The Wise and the Foolish | Westside Eagle Observer

(From Sunday)

"The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands."Proverbs 14:1

Today, it's Mother's Day, and it was suggested to me that I ought to preach on the topic. Though Mother's Day is not a Biblical observance, there are, most certainly, plenty of Scripture passages which speak of honoring and obeying one's mother. God commands all of us to honor our mothers, and more than on just one day each year.

But I thought it might be more fitting to pick a text which is addressed toward women and mothers and came up with the theme: "The Wise and the Foolish." While it may sound more like the title of a daytime soap opera, it is Biblical and comes from a proverb of Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived: "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands."

What wisdom and insight can we gain from this passage which relates to women and motherhood? What would God teach us by including this proverb in the pages of His inspired Word?

Well, it teaches us much about the roles of wife and mother and how some are wise and some are foolish.

"The wise woman builds her house...." No, it does not refer to a woman being a construction worker and doing the brick and mortar work of building a house. It's talking about building her marriage and family. A wise woman loves her husband, submits and devotes her life to building up her house. She raises up children and assists in teaching her children to know the LORD and His Word (cf. Gen. 2:18-25; Psalm 128; 1 Tim. 2:11-15; 2 Tim. 1:3-5; 3:14-17; Eph. 5:22-33; 6:1-4). Instead of living for herself, she lives to build her house.

The book of Proverbs gives us an example of such a woman in chapter 31:10-31. The passage begins: "Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life...." Later, it says: "She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.' Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."

On the other hand, there is the foolish. Instead of building up her house by devoting herself to her husband and children, she "pulls it down with her own hands," thinking more of herself and her desires than of the good of her family. Instead of working together with her husband to bring up her children in the "training and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4), she works against him in word and example by neglecting God's Word and questioning and even criticizing its teaching. Instead of building up her household, she picks at it and tears it apart with her own attitude and actions.

I expect, if we are all honest with ourselves, we will see that we have not always been wise, selfless, loving. Nor have we always devoted ourselves to teaching our children the fear of the LORD in word and example. Both fathers and mothers have failed us and we have often failed our spouses and our children.

My point in this message is to point all of us to our perfect Heavenly Father who, even though we have so often been foolish and disobedient, never failed us. He still cared for us and provided for us, and He so loved us that He gave His only-begotten Son to die in our stead and win us back to Him (cf. John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10). He builds His house in mercy and forgiveness and instruction (cf. Eph. 1:6-7; 5:22-33).

In Him we find pardon for our foolishness and wisdom to guide us in building our own homes and families! (cf. 2 Tim. 3:14-17). In Him, we learn to teach and admonish our children with God's Word, and to forgive as we have been forgiven (cf. Eph. 4:32). We acknowledge and admit our own faults that our children might learn to acknowledge and confess theirs and receive God's forgiveness in Christ Jesus (cf. James 5:16).

O merciful Father, for Jesus' sake, forgive us where we have been foolish and grant us wisdom to walk in Your ways. Amen.

Editorial on 05/13/2015