Proverbs 1:4: The wisdom in being foolish

“to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth —”
-Proverbs 1:4

I wish I had known earlier in life how little I knew.

I know almost as little now as I did then, but at least I know it. But a major problem in my life in high school was that I thought I knew a whole lot. Since I thought I knew so very much, I had very little interest in learning anything more. And so I learned very little in high school.

In college and after, I have learned a great deal. But it wasn’t that my teachers were better or the material all that more interesting. It was that I figured out that I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. I learned because I was willing to learn.

Strange how a little humility opens you to so much. The proud do not think they can learn, and so they do not.

Almost certainly this is why Jesus preached a humble approach to His message. The proud end up like the Pharisees who did not accept Christ because He did not support their own petty interests.

The proud do not think they need a Savior, and I certainly didn’t think I needed one. It wasn’t until college that I slowly began to realize that there was so much I could still learn, and the more I learn, the more I realize that I remain ignorant.

I once heard that the word “sophomore” comes from a Greek phrase meaning “wise fool.” The idea is that a sophomore in school is beginning to understand that he is foolish, and that makes him wise.

A neat idea, and those Greek terms do exist, but that’s not where we got the word “sophomore.” We got it from an Old French term. Too bad, I say. I still like the idea of the wise fool. I fervently pray that this term describes me, in fact, because I want to be teachable.

In verse 4 of the first chapter, Solomon continues to give us his purposes in writing down these Proverbs. The verse is interesting to me, because it is the first time he gives a hint as to his audience, and it really isn’t who we would expect.

I say that because too often we think that only pastors and scholars need to study the Bible. But Solomon is not directing it to those people at all. Those people can be benefited, of course (as we’ll see in verse 5), but that’s not who he primarily talking to.

He’s talking to people who was wise enough to know they are foolish.

But we should not be content to remain fools, and Solomon is writing to give us “prudence,” “knowledge and discretion.” This is where the “wise” part of being a wise fool comes in. Because if we realize we’re foolish, but still do not seek knowledge, then we are simply foolish.

But isn’t this exactly what we do when it comes to God? Some people really think they know everything about religion and that they have nothing to learn. That is foolish. Then there are some people who would wholeheartedly agree that they don’t know much about God, but they don’t seem to be in a hurry to learn anything. This is also foolish.

These philosophies are foolish for simple reasons. The first is that God is big enough that we cannot know Him completely in this life; the second is that God is too important to not try to know Him in this life.

In the Bible, we have God speaking to us. The only legitimate response to it is to come in humility and accept the wisdom there. His words were given to guide us, and it would be foolish to ignore those words. And yet how often do we really read our Bibles?

But this is the same thing that happens with Jesus. He came to earth to provide us a way to heaven, and most of us are so foolish that we think we know everything we need to about eternity, or we bask in our ignorance. Again, the only wise choice is to repent of our own prideful ways and to submit to Him.

He is simply too important.