Winston Salem church of Christ

Listen closely.  I am a firm believer that it is not who says what, but what is said, that matters.  We can learn from any one. Even if we don’t like them, they are usually wrong, what they say is rude, or they don’t practice what they preach!

Listen even more closely.  It is not even what is said that is exclusively all that I must listen to.  Consider, just because people say the same thing, do they always mean the same thing?  No.  Truth is always truth, but sometimes people seem to say the same thing, but there can be drastic differences.  Also, just because something is true doesn’t make it right.  I know…that doesn’t sound true or right, does it?  But listen, the danger comes when we only listen to words, but don’t “listen” to the lives of the people speaking.

In Proverbs 9:4, wisdom personified as a woman, calls out, “Whoever is naïve, let him turn in here!”   Equally, the Woman of Folly also calls out, Whoever is naïve, let him turn in here” (Proverbs 9:14).  Same words – same entreaty.

Both offer the same thing – so listen carefully:

• Wise Woman – Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed (v.5)
• Boisterous Woman – Stolen water is sweet; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant (v.17)

Both women offer truth.  That’s what is so confusing.  The Wise Woman offers a way of understanding that leads to life.  The Woman of Folly offers truths that destroy.  Consider what she says, stolen water is sweet; and the bread eaten in secret is pleasant.  Is that true?  Can sin be pleasant?  Yes, unfortunately – the passing pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25).  Just because something is true, doesn’t make it right. 

So what’s the conclusion?  Both the wise and the destructive often entreat with the same words and same offers.  Who do I listen to?  Go beyond the obvious and see the long term, also look at the companions.  The Wise Woman’s words lead to life.  The Woman of Folly succeeds because foolish people do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol (Proverbs 9:18).

Yes, we can even learn from both the Wise Woman and the Woman of Folly – by listening to their lives and companions to see the effects of their teaching.

So listen beyond the words.