Proverbs 26: 1

Proverbs 26: 1     As snow in summer and rain in harvest,

So honor is not fitting for a fool.

Proverbs 26: 1.  It makes no sense to reward someone for living wrong/ foolishly.  When you tell someone who’s wrong that because of your wrong I’m going to do something good for you, you reinforce their desire for wrongdoing. 

If your child’s acting a fool in the grocery store, don’t buy them candy to shut them up.  You’ve basically paid them to be bad. 

If your teen puts on an attitude and demands that you buy them a car or an outfit cause “it’s stupid” for them not to have one; don’t buy them anything or take them to buy anything.   That would be honoring their foolishness.

If your toddler gets mad and slaps you, don’t say, “Oh, that’s O.K.  He/she was just a little upset.  I’m sorry.”  Don’t label that foolishness with legitimacy.

That’s crazy like snow in the middle of summer.

 

At harvest time, the desired crops have reached the peak of their growth.  If there’s a stretch of rain at harvest, it doesn’t help the crops you want.  The intended crops over-ripen and rot in the fields.  The good dies.  Ironically though the same weather that destroyed the months of planting & cultivation give new life to the weeds you’d spent the same months fighting back.  The bad flourishes.

When you reward foolishness it doesn’t motivate the fool to act wisely.  In fact, you’re likely to do more damage than good. 

Jesus commands us to be merciful (Luke 6: 27-38) , even to those who wrong us.  But mercy is about meeting legitimate needs not indulging foolish desires.  Mercy is logical.  We show mercy to others because God showed mercy to us (Luke 6: 36). 

But rewarding/ paying off behavior that’s wrong and foolish?
That makes no sense.