In the tenth chapter of Ecclesiastes, Solomon warns us about the destructive nature of foolishness. What we often fail to recognize is that in this book, as in all wisdom literature in the Bible, foolishness is a synonym for vanity or worldliness. Foolishness is a carnal or worldly approach to life. It is the holding of earthly values above our devotion to eternal values.
In this it is far easier for us to see how easily foolishness creeps into the lives of believers. How very often we allow the foolish and worldly tastes for things like athletics, hobbies or other interests to supplant our dedication and devotion to God. It is the encroachment of covetousness, which Paul defines as idolatry into our daily priorities and choices.
Because this foolishness often sits as the ruler of our hearts we find ourselves constantly in conflict with good and normal Christian disciplines. As always the problem lies within our hearts. We would prefer to not acknowledge this but until we do we will constantly be unstable and stumbling.
It is this “foolish” perspective that drives us to activities, relationships and even habits that are in the end nothing but destructive.
