Key Scripture: Proverbs 1:1-4, 22-23

V1-4. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

V22-23 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Relevance

 While going through the Book of Proverbs, I paused again at the words simple and simplicity. 

I've stopped there before with great interest, as the condition of 'simplicity' has such a telling effect on one's life, health, wealth and Godly pursuits. 

Some people are mistakenly called simple due to life incidents or imperfections at birth that generate learning deficiencies. That is not what it means, because many of those people are often 'switched on' in other ways. 

Simplicity in our context doesn't mean living a minimalist lifestyle. It's a serious negative condition of being simple or ignorant, mostly due to disregard. In some people, ignorance of facts is the default position of choice.

Simple, as the scripture states, is ignoring God and Godly advice!  This ignorance creates a path and lifestyle of simplicity or being, as Hebrew references intimate, open-minded, naive and seducible, although the simple would vehemently deny it. 

1. Being open-minded is not a compliment, although one might think it is. It means you have no particular rock as your foundation, and can be seduced to follow anything that moves in any direction the wind blows, providing the salesperson, prophet, or sage can produce sufficient magnetism. Spiritually, it shows that you could end up quite a distance from the Strait Gate and Narrow Way of the Lord, while still thinking you are fine. 

2. Naivety is the second trait. Naivety of the world can be an attractive quality in some people, whether Christian or not. Yet the naivety described here is more like the fool Solomon wrote of in Proverbs. Despite a world full of facts and examples of 'wisdom crying in the streets,' he prefers avoidance like the Ostrich with its head in the ground. Consequently, this stance also keeps him 'naive' of God's miracles, Godliness, and most of all, how to live a life filled with wisdom, justice, judgment, equity and discretion. These are all vital elements of character and play consequential roles in family and society. 

3. Seducible. One would expect this part of simplicity would be self-explanatory. However, it's more like common sense, which is not always as common as we think. I'll give it a description. As far back as I can remember, people were being seduced in a multitude of ways. As the saying goes regarding the seducible, "There's one born every minute!"  We've all been sucked in by someone. Abraham Lincoln issued a warning: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”The first line is the key one! “You can fool some of the people all of the time.” That doesn't say much for the simple. Before delivering that wise saying, Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of the USA, stated, “Those who stand for nothing, fall for anything.” 

Our seductee enters on cue. 

But there is hope. God calls out the simple, the scorner and the fool to address their shortcomings, just as He calls us. v22-23, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

We've all been simple at some time. But our simplicity—our air-headed, naive, seducible mind, together with our argumentative spirit that we are not those things—becomes glaringly obvious in the light of scripture. Until we become wise in the ways of God, we remain indelibly simple, regardless of any notoriety, academic awards or monetary achievements we may enjoy. As the recently assassinated Charlie Kirk once said, "Being clever is not the same as being wise."

Another confronting point is that we can also be simple and saved at the same time! Being saved doesn't make us unquestionably wise sages. The Lord gives us seeds with the incoming of the Holy Spirit, and, like the fruit of the Spirit, we continuously change our simplicities for the Lord's wisdom and eventually become wise old owls. 

Thankfully, the Lord who called the simple then calls us now. Like us, they were also lost to the ways of an intelligent Lord. But, gloriously, His design for redemption extends to the length of His everlasting mercy.

Let's all give thanks and praise to our brilliant Lord. Can you imagine life without HIm?

Prayer

Adored Saviour, thank you that your wisdom, knowledge and understanding have no bounds, and you are prepared to instruct us for as long as our ears and other senses are open for business. Praise You for your great love, affection and enthusiasm. 

Photo by Brett Jordan