Proverbs 1:22 (ESV): 22  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

  How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

Abba,

There is something terrifying in this verse.

And it is not the simple, the scoffers, or the fools.

It is the LOVE and DELIGHT of a heart of foolishness.

There are some in this world that are simply naïve and unlearned.  Their actions flow from childlike immaturity and what they need is a good dose of reality and instruction to help them mature.

That is not those mentioned in this verse.  In this verse, we have the very definition of fools.  Those who so LOVE and DELIGHT in their simplicity, in their lack of knowledge that it has become a life choice for them. 

A child, while immature, wants to learn and grow.

A fool has no such desire.  They take pleasure in their world and have no desire to see it change. 

Perhaps because it is freeing.  It enables them to live as they want while pleading ignorance to reality and truth. 

It is easier than facing the hard challenges  and realities of life.  And so they CHOOSE to live in a state of foolishness and ignorance.

So often, Abba, I hear people describe their choices and actions.  In these descriptions are clear violations of your will and desire for them.  Yet in the next sentence, they also voice why you feel absent, distant, or unconnected to them.  They confess confusion over your will and plan for their life; all the while living in such a way that evidences a clear departure from your revealed directive for their life.

This, Abba, this is the very definition of foolishness.  Living as we want, ignoring the directive of your word, and yet still expecting intimacy with you and blessing from your hand.

Abba, guard your children from such a stance before you.  Grant our hearts a humble submission to you, a love for your word, a passion for your person, and fierce devotion to truth.  May we never fall prey to a heart of foolishness that despises you in favor of our own path of perceived pleasure.

Make us lovers of truth.  Lovers of You.

Amen.