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The Fool Rages And Scoffs


          If a wise man goes to court with a fool,  the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace....  A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. (Proverbs 29:9 & 11)

          Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,  but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. (James 3:5-9)

          This would probably be one of those great places to tell a little story about this past week when someone said this, and then I said that, and then they..., but that would sound a little too much like raging and scoffing. The reality is that we all have enough fool in us that we've been guilty of one or the other, or both.
          How can we not be fools. Since Adam and Eve decided to be "like the Most High," we have lived in a world in which God is not entirely welcome if He is welcome at all. Oh, some of us like to believe that we are better than that - but when things aren't going the way we'd like it's like James says about the tongue. It seems, then, that there are at least two areas in which I need to improve. I need to figure out what I should do when I discern that I'm dealing with a fool, and I need to figure out what I should do when I discern that I am being a fool. O think this prayer may help with both.
 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
          The first thing I notice about God in this verse is that He is Lord. For the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to be pleasing in His sight, it needs to be in submission to Him. My words and my meditations also need to be founded on Him (my Rock) and His Word. And, when I screw up, I need a redeemer.

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