Being Foolish
You shall not tempt the Lord your God. – Matthew 4:7 NKJV.
Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish: why should you die before your time? – Ecclesiastes 7:17 NKJV.
You have to wonder why people do the things they do. Here are some examples: A lawyer and two buddies were fishing on Caddo Lake in Texas when a lightning storm hit the lake. Most of the other boats immediately headed for the shore, but not our friend, the lawyer. Alone on the rear of his aluminum bass boat with his buddies, he stood up spread his arms wide (crucifixion style) and shouted: “HERE I AM LORD, LET ME HAVE IT!” God delivered. The other two passengers on the boat survived the lightning strike with minor burns. You would have to think that this was not only being foolish but also tempting God.
Then there are the two guys playing catch with a rattlesnake. You can guess what happened. One of the Alabama men died from the rattlesnake bites. The friend was hospitalized. Again, you would have to say this was being foolish and dying before your time. If they were depending upon God to protect them, it would be tempting God as well.
Most of us are not going to do such things so obviously foolish as stand in an aluminum boat during a lightning storm or play catch with rattlesnakes. Somewhere along the way our parents, teachers, or life has taught better than to do something like that. However, we are foolish and tempt God in more subtle ways. It may be that we drive too fast or carelessly. Do we buckle our seat belts? There is overwhelming evidence that seat belts save lives and after all for most of us it is the law. Then there are our personal health habits. What do we eat and drink? Is it healthy or unhealthy? Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You can most likely probably think of many other ways in which we are foolish and tempt God.
Just in case you are ever tempted Eagle’s Rock African Safari Zoo would want you to be warned about one thing. They would want you to know that super gluing both hands to the rear end of a rhino can be not only dangerous but also very unpleasant. The man who did this lived but they had given Sally the rhino some laxative just prior to his foolish move. Very unpleasant!
I think we can see that we can live much longer lives simply by not being foolish and not tempting God.
(The Illustrations in this devotional are from about 20 years ago. However, I am convinced there are even more people today that are being foolish and tempting God.)