The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, But the foolishness of fools is deceit. Proverbs 14:8

Are you more concerned about your own actions or the actions of others?  Today's proverb offers us some pretty heady stuff about the way a wise man thinks about things in life.  There is great wisdom for us today if we will open ourselves to what God has to say to us.

Here we read that the sensible man has wisdom.  To be sensible is to be shrewd and prudent.   So a prudent man has wisdom to offer to us today.  That wisdom is this, to understand one's own way.  It is wise to be able to understand ourselves.  This word, "understand" means to discern and perceive.  The one who understands himself pays attention to what he himself does.  He watches himself far more than he does others.  This is not a selfish thing - but rather a desire to grasp why one does the things they do.  This man takes a close look at where his actions and attitudes lead him.  He looks at his own way - but only so that he can understand where he has gotten himself.  He then uses this information for the purpose of change and growth.  He studies himself to gain wisdom on how an attitude change - a change in actions - a change in how he speaks - can help him to be a better person.  In the context of the Bible - he also does this so he can walk with God more closely and honor Him better in all that he does.  He examines himself, considers himself, and after doing this he considers what is right - what is his duty and his responsibility - and then he goes about doing it regardless of what others say or do.

This wise man wants to know his own way because he fully grasps that he is the only one he can change.  He is not quick to blame others and fault others for his problems.  He takes responsibility for himself.  This is one of the best ways to improve your mental health.  If you are forever blaming everyone else for your problems, you will rarely change - and - you will be filled with bitterness and unforgiveness.  You will view yourself as a perennial victim of others.  The sum total of who you are will only be what others have done to you.  You will think that your own actions don't matter - or have real consequences because you see all your problems as someone else's fault.  Oh, and by the way, you will also be a fool who lacks any real wisdom.

The foolishness of fools is deceit.  This is the second half of this proverb.  The fool is focused on deceit.  Simply put, the fool lies.  He lies to others.  He does not want to understand his own way - because he is too busy making up what he would like his own way to be.  He seeks to manipulate others - not himself.  He uses lies and deceit to dupe others into believing he really is not responsible for his own actions.  When caught in a lie - he will use another lie to get out of his difficult circumstances.  Most of all, he lies to himself.  Every bad thing that happens is someone else's fault.  Every problem is due to someone else.  His shortcomings are the fault of others who did not do enough to equip and train him properly.  He will never change because he honestly does not see the need for it in his own conduct.  If others had only done their part, his actions or words or laziness or inactivity would not have mattered.  In the end, though, people grow tired of his blame game.  Figuring he is either not worth dealing with - or - incapable of being honest with himself - they turn away from him. 

Two men are pictured here.  One sees no fault in himself and turns to deceit to deal with his problems.  The other man is prudent - he turns to look closely at himself.  As he looks he seeks to understand how his own actions, attitudes, and words affect what happens to him.  One man will fail while the other succeeds.  One man will forever be blaming others while the other will receive encouragement to change.  One will walk the way of fools while the other will live a life of godly wisdom.

21 My son, fear the Lord and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change, 22 For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them? Proverbs 24:21-22

Change!  We need change!  There is the byword of our society lately.  Yet, there are some things that do not change, and should not be subject to quick changes.  What is fascinating to me is the two areas where this is mentioned. 

Fear the Lord - that I can understand.  At least in the context of change.  Those who think that they can do better with God - who think that they know better than His Word are not wise people.  An example are those who think that God should change His views on morals to parallel those of a changing society.  They are given to change, and do so every time the society decides to loosen their morals beyond what is written in the Word.  As it says in verse 22 - their calamity is going to come - it will rise suddenly.  And the ruin that comes from such "change" is massive.  With God's Word that is easy to see.  But that is not where this passage stops. 

Fear the king . . . that is the second part of this statement made by the wise man.  Government?  We should fear the government?  That is what God's Word tells us.  But we need to remember what kind of government they had.  Their king was to spend time writing out a personal copy of God's Word so that he would be careful not to overstep what it said.  But before we make this statement only apply to a biblical theocracy, we need to remember that Paul urged first century Christians to submit to the government of Rome - or to any under which they lived.  We are to pray for those in authority so that we can live peaceful lives in all godliness. 

Stability in government is actually a good thing.  As long as we can live within it for Christ - we should be grateful for whatever form of government we have.  The people describes as the ones given to change are those who are desirous of changing the government - which in that day meant an overthrow or a revolution.  Hang around with these people long enough - and both you and they will find yourselves at odds with the king. 

An interesting historical parallel to this is the French Revolution.  There were those who were given to change - and who decided to overthrow the monarchy.  These revolutionaries soon decided to overthrow one another.  Before long - blood ran in the streets as one faction turned on another.  The end of all this was the dictatorship of Napoleon and the wars that ensued.  France was in shambles due to it all.  Associating with those "given to change" led to many being beheaded . . . yep, sounds like calamity to me. 

The best thing is to fear God - and fear the ones in government to whom He has placed the sword of its power.  Romans tells us as much.  Historically, being a Christian has rarely meant working for government change.  I know in the United States such statements are foreign to us, but biblically the focus of God's people has been building a kingdom that cannot be seen - one that will last forever.  So, follow the counsel of Scripture . . . fear God and the king.  Work in your life to live under both - but ultimately with a view to standing before the Lord, Who ultimately is the One Who governs our lives.