Imprudence Avoidance
Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool lays open his folly. – Proverbs 13:16.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. – Colossians 3:15-17.
Three high school students in Arkansas got into a little trouble when they used a homemade stun gun on some fellow students. One student was able to find directions for making a stun gun on the Internet, and actually made one – then he brought it to school. The stun gun maker and four others then began shocking fellow students at an awards assembly. Apparently no injuries were sustained (other than severe shock!), and no one needed medical attention. The students using the homemade stun gun have been given short suspensions.
I once had a client while I was a probation and parole officer who was 18 years old, but the judge was still allowing him to attend high school. I received a call one day that my client had shot another student in the head during a break in classes. Thankfully, it was only a blank gun that he used to shoot the other student. However, when you hold a blank gun six inches from someone’s face and pull the trigger you can expect there to be a little damage. It was not a severe injury but definitely scary for the student involved and everyone who witnessed it. The judge gave my client one more chance and moved him to another school.
The Amplified Bible translates Proverbs 13:16 as “Every prudent man deals with knowledge, but a [self-confident] fool exposes and flaunts his folly.” It should have been obvious to the five students at the high school in Arkansas that using a homemade stun gun on other students could cause problems. They had the necessary knowledge through 16 years of life to know this very evident fact. What happened? They ignored the knowledge they had, the wisdom they had and did what they wanted to do. It should have been obvious to my client that threatening or pointing any type of gun, blank or otherwise, at anyone would cause problems. There should have been no doubt in his mind that actually firing a blank gun into the face of a student in a hallway filled with students would cause mass panic. What happened? He ignored the information he had obtained over 18 years of his life and did what he wanted to do. The result was not much fun for him or anyone else involved.
Both of these incidents with the homemade stun gun and the blank gun are examples of people acting as fools. They had no concern for anyone but themselves, as a result they did cause harm to others, and exposed themselves as fools. Their actions were in direct opposition to the instruction of the apostle Paul when he tells the Colossians, “let the peace of God rule in your hearts”; “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom”; and, “whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” These young men obviously were not letting “the peace of God rule” in their hearts, or letting “the word of Christ dwell” in them “richly in all wisdom,” and they were not acting in “the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Avoid being exposed as a fool and instead fill your heart and life with the wisdom of God through His Word. Then, you will find yourself able to “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
(Learning to avoid harmful actions.)