How The Wisest Man Became The Greatest Fool

"The greatest fool is the one who was once wise." We live in the information age where knowledge is prized above all else. Never has the acquisition of knowledge mattered more to a culture than ours. Yet, while knowledge is important many ancient cultures sought wisdom first and foremost. The ancients knew that while related, wisdom and knowledge are quite different. For while wisdom requires much knowledge, knowledge doesn’t require any wisdom. Just because a person is extremely knowledgeable doesn’t mean he is also wise. The ancient Israelites also knew this. That’s why in the Old Testament there is a whole genre of writing known as wisdom literature. Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. According to these books true wisdom was intertwined with godliness since it was God who ultimately gave wisdom. A wise person, therefore, was one who feared God and obeyed His moral laws. Conversely, the one who disobeyed God’s laws was a fool. And the person in the Old Testament who best exemplified both the wise person and the fool was King Solomon. God supernaturally endowed Solomon with wisdom as a young man. He composed over 3000 proverbs, several hundred of which are in the Book of Proverbs. At his height he became world renowned for his wisdom. Kings and queens from far off nations came to seek his advice. Under his early leadership Israel came the closest to fulfilling God’s mandate to be a light for the nations. But slowly he began to forget that even the wise become fools when their hearts reject truth. Solomon not only began to disobey God’s laws, but used the very wisdom which God had given him to rationalize and justify his folly. So, if it can happen to one of the wisest men to have ever lived how much more to you and I? Remember, wisdom turns into folly when the heart rejects truth. Love truth. Find this inspiring? Then please share it on Facebook and Twitter!