Common Sense V

light_darkIn this article I would like to continue our look at common sense and specifically how it is manifested in people’s lives, either its presence or its absence. In the wise man Solomon’s tenth proverb we see the comparison/contrast method used in order to teach us the complete differences in those who do have common sense and those who do not have it. Solomon compares and contrasts the two by calling the one who has common sense a wise person while the one who lacks common sense is mentioned as a fool. I like how specific and concrete the Word of God is. God uses contrasts such as night and day, light and darkness, life and death in order to clearly draw the lines between good and evil, leaving no room for middle ground or gray area as people like to say. People love the gray area, because in the gray area they feel comfortable and do not have to admit their faults. The idea of relativism is truly a man-made thing, man-centered, helping him to calm his conscious by not having to face reality. This concept is clearly seen among homosexuals. They avoid the facts that the homosexual lifestyle is sinful and that it is dangerous for a person to live as a homosexual because of the high mortality rate and vulnerability to diseases. Immediately they deny the Bible or they try to take the cut and dry, black and white of the Bible and make it relative, grey area stuff so that they can excuse themselves and deceive others. This article will follow the contrast method that the original author of the text uses.

  1. The person who has common sense is considered wise. He brings joy to his parents because of his wise actions. He is a person who receives commands (of course from the context of the book of Proverbs these commands are from his parents taken out of the teachings of the Word of God). He acts according to the commands that he receives, walking in integrity. I talk with many different types of people but there is one thing that I find in common with those who walk in integrity, they have been taught to do so, usually by their parents of someone close to them. As a result of applying the teaching that they receive they are people of integrity and reap the benefits of it in their daily lives. On the other hand, those who are not people of integrity usually say one of two things, either no one ever taught me or I should have listened to the advice of my parents. As a result of receiving instructions from his parents and applying them to his life, he will be a diligent person, a hard worker. Our world today lacks diligence and hard workers. If you have ever owed or run a business then you know how difficult it is to find good workers these days. He will be a person who works hard and does his work at the right time. There is a saying that goes, “after the war is over, many heroes appear ready for battle”, meaning that during the battle when it was time to fight those “heroes” were no where to be found but once the danger is over they are the first ones to show up looking to fight. There is another saying, “the right thing done at the wrong time is not really right”. If you have common sense then you will be diligent, working hard at the right time. The benefits of common sense are limitless. First of all, because of obedience, God will provide or take care of the needs of the one who works hard. The Lord will not allow the man with common sense to go hungry. In other words, his hard work will be rewarded. How many people work hard day and night with little or no results? Maybe it is because they lack common sense? As we will see in the next half of the article that is the exact reason why their work is not blessed.
  2. A person who lacks common sense is considered a fool. As I mentioned in an earlier article, the word fool or foolish means to be deceived, to think that you are correct yet in reality you could not be more wrong. The word fool comes from the early medieval period when the king and/or queen wanted to be entertained they would call on the jester or court fool as they would say. Another way to call him is a buffoon. He thinks that he is causing everyone else to laugh, and of course he is laughing with them, but in reality all the people are laughing at him. He is deceived. A person who lacks common sense does not bring joy to his parents but instead, he brings shame. What does he do to bring shame and grief? First of all he does not receive the commands of his parents, either by not paying attention to them or by not applying them to his life. Next he tries to make a profit off of others through ill-gotten gain. He is like many used car salesmen, he will tell you the truth but only enough of the truth to get you to buy that piece of junk car. He deceives people day and night but the interesting thing is that he is never satisfied in his earnings. The question is, why not? The Proverb says that God will thrust aside his cravings, or in other words, what he gains will never bring him satisfaction. He may work hard day and night but he will never prosper. He is perverted in his actions and his mouth is full of deceit so as a result he remains in poverty, or even if he does manage to prosper, he is not satisfied with what he has. Next we learn that his ways will be made known, how? By the fact that he works hard and does not prosper or if he does prosper he is not satisfied with his prosperity.

My dear friend, where do you find yourself in these two lists? As you can clearly see, there is no middle ground, either one or the other, so again, where do you find yourself? Are you wise or foolish? If you are a foolish person according to the Scriptures, then there is great news for you, YOU can CHANGE!!! I was once foolish, lacking common sense, but now I am wise because I repented of my evil ways and I now follow God and His teachings from His Word. Would not you like the same?