Is it possible for a born-again believer to be foolish? The answer is YES! Apostle Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, "Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is" - Eph. 5:17. Let me share with you today, of seven areas in our spiritual walk where we guard ourselves from being foolish. As I share with you the Word of God, you may mark those areas in your own life where you have not been foolish - I say six out of seven is not good enough! I wish for us all to be perfected in our walk in ALL these seven areas.
1. Gal. 3:1-3 "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"
Portrayed here is the state of the church in Galatia, when Paul writes to them. They had started off well; by faith received the Spirit. Now they imposed upon themselves to follow the law of Moses! They sought to find justification before God by their works! The truth is, Salvation is a free gift of God; there's NO person on earth who can EARN it. Look at Eph. 2: 8,9 - "For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God". In a country like ours - India, you find the difficulty in sharing this simple truth; for the majority of people here are only willing to earn their salvation by 'good' works. So, we find people going on a pilgrimage, holding a fast, giving alms, doing social service - that by any means they may obtain salvation! But, as believers, "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). Therefore I say this, that we obtain salvation NOT BY good works, but FOR good works. 'If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation' (2 Cor. 5: 17).
2. James 2:20 "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?"
Look at this foolishness. Faith without works! But may we continue from where we left... As we are called FOR good works, it is foolish to think that faith alone is sufficient. Because faith simply does not stand alone... it works in obedience. Our faith is 'alive' by the works we do! We can be like that wise 'builder' who built his house upon the rock. Jesus while talking of this parable, distinguishes between 'wise' and the 'foolish' man by this - their works. Both hear the words of Jesus. "But everyone who hears these saying of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand;" (Matt. 7:26). Therefore I say this, that let us not be hearers of the Word only, deceiving ourselves, but also doers!
3. Luke 24:25 "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!"
Unbelief is foolishness! Here Jesus meets his own disciples and chided them. For they were slow of heart to believe what the prophets had foretold! How often we find ourselves in this situation - we have God's promises; His Word. Yet, we find it hard to believe it for the present circumstances. I'm not asking you to close your eyes to the situation around you - nor to forget your circumstances. Faith is not walking with eyes closed; for we see Abraham, 'who, contrary to hope, in hope believed' (Rom. 4:17). Abraham knew of his own body, 'already dead' and the 'deadness of Sarah's womb' (Rom. 4:19) - but yet chose to put his faith in Him who promised. Even in our prayers, we can add faith, and say, 'Though I may not see nor understand all, but Lord, You will make a way'. We can claim of God's wonderful promises and not be slow to believe all that He has spoken.
4. Luke 11:40 “Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?”
This is the foolishness of the Pharisees! They were the leaders of the church at that time. And they just had to be prim and proper on the outside! They wear the right clothes, carry themselves with the right posture - right expression and even make the right noises. And it’s all there for OTHERS to see! And that is it… for OTHERS to SEE! Perfection personified on the outside (I Pet. 3: 3, 4)! But, inside – it’s another story! The Pharisees had this lack that they did not care about their inner beauty. Peter encourages the believer to be concerned about their inner beauty. Paul urges that we be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2), thereby proving what the will of the Lord is! Therefore I say this, consider your inner man – inner person (Eph. 4: 22 – 24). And look for the inner beauty in others, especially in marriage, when you are looking for a spouse!
5. Matt. 25: 1 - 13 (The Foolish virgins): Jesus taught us this parable of ten virgins – meaning pure and chaste before God. But five of them were foolish – while the other five were wise. Yes, all ten were virgins, all were called for the wedding; all of them were waiting for the bridegroom and all their lamps were burning. But, only five of them took ‘oil in their vessels with their lamps’ (Matt 25: 4). And when the bridegroom came, these were the ones who went in with him to the wedding (verse 10) while the five ‘foolish’ virgins were left out. Jesus declared “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (verse 13). No one knows the day or the hour when Jesus would return – it is for us to always be ready, being wise, redeeming the time. Therefore I say this, if you harbor an unforgiving spirit against someone, or if you have vengeance in your heart, there is no better time than NOW to repent. The Word of God exhorts us, “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Eph. 4:27); but ‘to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless’ (II Pet 3:14). For we read in the Bible, that two of them will be in the field, or in one bed – and ONE will be TAKEN and the OTHER LEFT out!
This chapter talks about the resurrection of the dead. If you read verses 35 through 38, Paul talks of arguments and contentions within the church on matters beyond understanding of the human mind. There is a natural body, in which we spend our time on earth – and a glorified body, when the believer’s rise from the dead! We may not be fully comprehend or fathom what the glorified body will look like! The Bible encourages us ‘not to lean on our own understanding’. In our walk of faith, we may never FULLY understand ALL of God’s ways – God never intended us to! We are limited by our human mind. Look at 1 John 3:2. It says “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”. Therefore I say this, that in all our getting wisdom and understanding, we may become fools in this matter; if we fail to know that God’s word takes precedence over our own understanding. We can FULLY trust God's word.
7. Luke 12:20 “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”
This is another parable of Jesus, where He tells us of a rich man – whose crop yielded plentifully. So he decided that he would build bigger barns, store them and take a well-earned rest! This man sure had a long-term perspective. He must have worked pretty hard and now is all ready for the plentiful harvest. If I tell the world about this man, the world will reply, ‘He sure is a very wise man’. But you know what - God called him a 'fool'. This man didn’t care for his own soul. All he wanted was to 'eat, drink and be merry'. He did not have an eternal perspective. With God, it is neither short-term, nor long-term perspective, but an ETERNAL perspective. When we see from God’s perspective, everything begins to look so very different. Imagine gold being sold here - in grams; because it is a costly precious metal. Now imagine streets of gold where we’re gonna walk! Ah! Things look different!!
Jesus went on to say that we must be 'rich toward God'. Not to store treasures here on earth, but to have treasures in heaven. For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also!
We can check ourselves on these seven areas of foolishness. Remember Eph. 5:17. Let us not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Amen.
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