The Southwest Voice

By: Mike Osthimer

I applied my heart to know, to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, to know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.

   I confess I am no fan of Dr. Phil, but as I was watching the cooking channel with my wife an advertisement came on for the show bearing his name and it had to do with kids involved in street racing. I guess Dr. Phil was going to be confronting street racers about the ills of going over 100 miles per hour in a residential area.

In the little “teaser” Dr. Phil made a statement that just made me laugh and I had to write it down.

The little 30-second commercial had Dr. Phil threatening to haunt a kid for the rest of his life for talking back to the doctor. Dr. Phil in no uncertain terms told this teenager that he was messing with the wrong guy and promised to do whatever he could to make this kid’s life miserable.

Obviously, Dr. Phil has not studied the book of Proverbs on answering a fool in his folly but then again his show would be a lot different if he followed biblical principles. It might impact his ratings if all the sensationalism was removed.

The statement Dr. Phil made that just cracked me up was this, “There is no smart way to be stupid.”

I loved it — it’s so simple yet so profound.

It reminded me of the wisdom we read about in the book of Proverbs where it says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”

The book of Proverbs makes very plain and clear, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”

The Bible pulls no punches, loved one. It just says it like it is.

Proverbs 4:4 goes on to say, “He also taught me, and said to me:  ‘Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands, and live.’” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The way to avoid stupidity is to follow Jesus’ lead, to heed His words and walk in His ways. Man cannot live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Listen to God, read and apply His word and you will find life, for life is in the Son! It’s that simple.