AVOIDING FOLLY

A mocker resents correction, he will not consult the wise,  A mocker is one who ridicules, one who points out by criticism or cynicism what he perceives to be faults.  There was a lot of mockery at my old workplace.  I set a task for myself to keep from indulging in mockery, to keep myself from sharing in fault finding.  “The discerning heart seeks knowledge but the mouth of the fool feeds on folly"  In keeping myself from the mockery and complaining mentioned above, I had to look to the essential good of every task I did.  I thought I should write down the "essential purpose" of every task and "silver lining" of every apparent bad situation.

“A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel".  When People were getting angry, I needed to be patient.  I needed to be the one to find the solution, the one who can find the solution to both sides, if I could.

“Folly delights the man who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.”  Sometimes I found myself in this situation when I was working a software problem.  For example I might be using Access to make a report.  I wanted the software to do a task, like copy in some fields from a spreadsheet rather than typing them in myself.  I would spend a whole day in folly (trying to make the software do the work) rather than keeping a straight course simply typing the report I needed while giving up on the rabbit trail of the software solution.  In that situation I was delighting myself in folly.  Working the software was more fun than the actual task I was using it for.  I could have honored God by honoring my work by sticking to the task I started with, saying the course. 

In spite of the above, what a wonderful privilege God had given me.  At work I received challenging tasks, new ones all the time.  I was given a free hand about how to achieve them.  I could even go about them in a wrong way, as when I spent too much time on the software.  I was given wonderful and interesting tools to work with.  I traveled to many interesting places in the country.  We did real work, useful work, national defense work, not merely entertainment work.

WHAT TO WRITE DOWN

Instead of the exercise of - or maybe In addition to - writing down, "I will conquer my daydreaming", perhaps I should write something like, "I will control my thinking and my activity so that I spend my effort toward things productive, toward the Kingdom of Heaven".  A corollary of that is, "I will not waste my time on entertainment which is harmful to the Kingdom of God, and therefore harmful to me".

1 Corinthians 9:27  But I keep under my body [and my thoughts], and bring it [them] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

2 Corinthians 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

1 Timothy 4:15  Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Joshua 24:15  . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Sometimes I feel I am in a dangerous, dry and thirsty land.  I ask the Lord to please deliver me.  Please create in me something where now there is nothing.  God is the one who creates something from nothing.