Africa-Press – Uganda. A wise person is one with deep understanding, keen discernment and a capacity for making sound judgment.
A fool is a person who is deficient of intellectual, practical or moral sense. Wise living is depending on God and His will while foolish living is depending on self without regard for God or others.
The Bible draws distinctions between wise builders and foolish builders (Matthew 5:24-27), wise virgins and foolish ones (Mathew 25:1-13), and wise kings and foolish kings. This means that in life, there are two categories of people; the wise and the foolish. None of these is created as such, but they just choose to become what they want to be.
One can choose to be wise or foolish depending on one’s course of direction. In Mathew 19:16-29, we find a rich young man who wanted to earn eternal life, but was not ready to follow the rules of the game. He was not ready to part with any of his possessions because they were so precious to him. Jesus wanted him to share his possessions with the poor, which was very difficult for him. In Luke 12:13-21, there is a story about a rich fool who amassed great wealth, but died without enjoying the fruits of his sweat. The problem was not his wealth, but the adoration he had for it.
His wealth had taken the place of God and he was not using it for the glory of God. God blesses us to bless others. Foolish people die without enjoying the fruits of their labour. When they die, their wealth ends in the hands of those whom they did not want to share with. This carries no blessing like giving and blessing others when you are still alive.
Fool stands for following one’s own lifestyle. Foolish living is following one’s own free will and being independent of God and others. Wise living is depending on God, his will and putting your personal will aside. You accept to take instructions from Him and abide by them.
Rich stands for revolving in Christ’s Holiness. In 1st Timothy 6:17, St Paul urges the rich not to be haughty or set their hopes on uncertainty of riches, but on God. He encourages them to be generous and to do good works. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 says: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
A rich society is the one where the rich are a blessing not a curse. A rich person becomes a curse when they use their wealth to oppress the poor by way of destabilising them. Some rich men want to own every woman in their locality. They want to own every piece of land. They want to enslave everybody to their advantage.
Imagine living in a place where you are the only person there! What kind of life do you expect? They sometimes hire people to work for them but refuse to pay them. God has reserved a day for vengeance. James 5:1-6 says, “ Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
John Owor,[email protected]
