Saturday night, we had Part 2 of our Drivers Ed series. I called this ONE WAY: Proverbs on Wisdom and Folly, and preached from Proverbs 9:1-6 and 13-18. These verses show us that the choice between wisdom and folly is ultimately the choice between Christ and the world. Three points:

1. TWO HOSTESSES

Solomon uses the imagery of two women to personify wisdom and folly. Wisdom is living all of life wiht God in view, in submission to His Word, like he really exists. Folly is living for yourself, making decisions without regard to God, as though he doesn’t exist or doesn’t care. Ultimately, the choice between wisdom and folly is a choice between Christ and the world.

One notable difference between wisdom and folly that emerges from these verses is that wisdom takes work, while folly is usually the path of least resistance. No one drifts into wisdom.

2. TWO INVITATIONS

It’s amazing how similar the invitations in verses 4 and 16 are. But the two invitations are also very different. But the most important thing to see is that everything we do includes an invitation to follow the path of wisdom or the path of folly. And it turns out that wisdom offers a choice meal: like a steak and baked potato with everything, and a large side salad. Folly proves to be like cotton candy: briefly pleasing, but if it’s all you eat you end up with rotten teeth and a stomach ache.

3. TWO DESTINATIONS

Finally, we must see that these two invitations lead to very different destinations. A few years ago, Mark helped me think about the seriousness of sin in a very practical way by asking me: “Where would that sin take me if left unrestrained and unopposed?” The final destination of wisdom is life; the final destination of folly is death. Let us fight sin and find life in Christ Jesus.

“The wisdom of God has become personified in Christ who died on a cross: that this should be the climatic expression of God’s wisdom and power cannot be grasped by human wisdom.” E. J. Schnabel.

If you are interested in the comparison between Woman Wisdom and Woman Folly, you can dowload it: Pr 9 Wisdom & Folly Comparison.doc

Categories: Drivers Ed, five15 blog