To Encourage You

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”

Not many people think they are living a life that is leading them to their own destruction. Although they may be “working hard and playing hard” or “living on the edge” or whatever other term they might use, they don’t really believe that they are living in a way that will destroy them in the end. They may think that the end of life is just that – the end of all existence. Therefore, as long as they have life, they might as well live it up, or as they say, “let’s eat, drink, and be merry,” which is actually a quote from a man Jesus talked about in Luke 12:19.

He was talking about a person with the “life is good” attitude, as they strive to enjoy all the good things this life has to offer with little thought for tomorrow and absolutely no thoughts about eternity. Jesus had a term to describe such a person. In Luke 12:20 he calls him an absolute “FOOL!!” He speaks of such a man’s sudden and unexpected death (actually, like this man, not many people have the “benefit” of knowing when they are going to die – and their death is very unexpected, even shocking to everyone they know), which would result in the immediate loss of everything he had accumulated in life. About this person Jesus says “the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

In Scripture, a fool is not “a silly and stupid person,” which is how we often think of the term and how the dictionary defines it. At least it doesn’t mean silly and stupid relative to the things of this world. The SPIRITUAL fool may be someone who is blessed with a good mind, perhaps even a genius. It could be someone who is highly skilled at a trade or a profession, a wealthy person. It could be someone with a lot of “street sense” who’s “nobody’s fool,” as they say. It could be someone who is extremely powerful, a world leader, or leader of any type. It could even be a regular “church-goer,” but one whose life outside the church building is indistinguishable from those who’ve never darkened a church’s door. The type of “fool” Jesus is referring to is someone who cares only about this world and the things of this world, with no thought to eternity. It is a person that acts and lives as if there is no God. That person cares only about what he or she can do that will benefit them or others in this life only. It is a person who is rich toward them self but in poverty when it comes to spiritual things.

It is that person that is on their way to death, no matter what their life may seem to them. They may think they have it all figured out. They may be living life to the full, with a great family, great job, plenty of money, and good friends, but they don’t have Jesus in their life, and they don’t care about him. That is the way of death. That is the way of a fool.

So what is the road that you are on? Is it the way of Life, or is it the way of a fool that Jesus has warned us so clearly about, and that in the end leads only to death?