Wise or Foolish?

As the years go by, a child who has studied faithfully over a long time and a child who crams only to scrape through exams come to lead lives of a different quality. So it is with life. There are times when hard work does not bring what one hoped for, and those who have lived honestly may find themselves the more discouraged.

To say that the former days were better than these is not wisdom. A faith that dwells on the past instead of living fully in the present is itself unbelief. That God has set prosperity and adversity beyond human reckoning means that life, in the end, rests with him.

Counting oneself overly righteous or overly wise, and being overly wicked or foolish, alike lead a person to ruin. Salvation comes not through one’s own righteousness but through the merit of Christ and God’s election. The wise are those who acknowledge their weakness and live in humble reverence for God.