Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 256 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Proverbs [9:13]-18 – Folly Calls for a Hearing

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 256 of our trek, and this will be our last day in camp for a while as we search for the nuggets of wisdom found in Proverbs 9:13-18. Yesterday we explored Proverbs 9:7-12 where King Solomon presented the closing arguments for the woman Wisdom in her court hearing before the city gates.  Since each day’s trek builds on the previous one, if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our travels on Thursday of this week will take us to Atlanta where we will drop Paula’s mom off at her sister’s place, and then we will fly on to Phoenix to spend four days working with our construction project in Mesa. It is in very capable hands with our friends and partners Charles and Alison Mecom, but it is good to get close to the project every few months. We will be back in Charlotte for part of the next week before heading back to The Big House in Marietta on the 19^th. It is an exciting season of life but challenging and tiring at times. I don’t think we will suffer from boredom anytime soon.

For today, we will spend one final day at camp around the campfire making some s’mores and listening to the final portion of the third of three great poems written by King Solomon. We will need to be transported back in time for one more day as we complete our exploration of Proverbs 9. Let us imagine ourselves once again outside the city gates of Jerusalem. Today we have the opposing council who is calling for a hearing. It is the lawyer Folly.  She will present a short testimony called…

Folly Calls for a Hearing

We find out that Folly has a house in the city walls, and she is shouting her testimony from there attempting to capture the simple and foolish people coming into the city. I will read Proverbs [9:13]-18,

¹³ The woman named Folly is brash.
She is ignorant and doesn’t know it.
¹⁴ She sits in her doorway
on the heights overlooking the city.
¹⁵ She calls out to men going by
who are minding their own business.
¹⁶ “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.
To those who lack good judgment, she says,
¹⁷ “Stolen water is refreshing;
food eaten in secret tastes the best!”
¹⁸ But little do they know that the dead are there.
Her guests are in the depths of the grave.

In verse 13, we see the opposing counsel is a lawyer called Folly. She is a crude brash person, unlike Wisdom, who was well mannered and peaceful. As with many arrogant people, she was also ignorant but was oblivious to this fact.

As we move onto verse 14, we remember that the woman called Wisdom prepared a fine meal for her guests. Wisdom even built a splendid house for them with the 7 columns that represented wisdom’s attributes.

But the lawyer Folly is lazy. Folly did none of these things. She does not even stand to invite her guests. We find her sitting in her doorway which was built high on the wall of the city. Calling from the high places was common, but sitting while making the proclamation showed disrespect.

The messages of the two lawyers both come from the highest place in the city, so everyone will hear both messages. Nobody will miss them. Everyone will receive both invitations. We cannot accept both invitations. We must choose. Either we follow Wisdom or Folly.

In verse 15 she is tempting those who are going about the business of life. Just like the Wisdom-Trek podcast, Solomon compares life to a trek that we take as part of everyday life. We need to understand that our service to God is doing what we do every day and doing it well.  No matter how mundane or insignificant, it may seem, living our life for God is never mundane. We must not be tempted away from doing what God has given us. Folly wants to destroy our lives.

In verse 16, the lawyer Folly also calls “simple” people and those who lack good judgment. Foolish people have already joined Folly. The simple people have not yet decided. The woman Folly tries to persuade them. She wants to tempt them from the path of living faithfully each day.

In verse 17, Folly also offers a meal to her guests. However, her meal does not belong to her. She stole the water. Her food must be eaten in secret.  What Folly is actually referring to here is having a meal of unfaithfulness. This could be unfaithfulness in marriage, in a workplace, to a friend, or in business. Any unfaithfulness in life is also unfaithfulness to God.

The woman tempts the simple man with evil ideas. Solomon is thinking about all evil things, not just unfaithfulness. If we are foolish, then we will choose to do evil things. If we refuse to be wise, then we also refuse to follow God.

Evil actions might feel “good.” Evil actions might feel “wonderful.” These are only feelings; they are not reality. The reality is that evil behavior is always wrong. The reality is that evil behavior will destroy us. The reality is that God hates all evil things.

The final verse is 18.  Those who feast at the banquet that the lawyer Folly has prepared will never leave the banquet, but not by their own choice. The lawyer Wisdom held a banquet that will bring a rich and satisfying life for all eternity. Her food gives life. The lawyer Folly has prepared a banquet that will bring death. Her food is poisonous. Her guests are in the depths of the grave.

We all have a choice. We can believe the testimony of the lawyer Wisdom and have life eternal, or we can believe the testimony of the lawyer Folly and have death eternal. God wants us all to learn to be wise. What is your choice?  This has been a great time of learning around the campfire for the past 11 days. Tomorrow we will be back on the trails as we start a new trek. So, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, I encourage you to help us promote Wisdom-Trek in the following four ways:

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Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!