The Message

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE MESSAGE

Prov 26:6

6 Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

NIV

Sometimes the style in which these words are either written or translated may be poetic however they are not always as straight forward as the way we would say it. We might say something like this: If we wanted to send a message about the truth of God to a friend, we would do ourselves a great deal of disservice by sending that message by giving it to an unbeliever. In fact if we were relaying that message verbally through the unbeliever we might as well cut of our foot for we would indeed be drinking violence unto ourselves. We could be sure the fool would distort our message, or not even deliver it. It would be as if we were lame, unable to deliver it at all. We have been witness to the game of passing a message around a circle whispering it into the ear of each person going around the circle until returns back to the original person. In almost every case the message has been so twisted, so unlike the original it is laughable. This may be the case here in sending a message by the hand of a fool, except it is not laughable, but devastating. Of course in those days there were only two forms of communication. One was to hand write a note, sealed with a wax ring upon which was fixed a symbol of one’s position or name known by all. The other method was to speak the message to a messenger and send him to convey your words exactly as you spoke them to the intended recipient. A fool would not remember them, or mess up the message so badly that it would not serve you well, but instead bring you harm. Today we can easily convey our message directly through various forms directly to our intended recipient, ether publically through social media or privately through the mail, email or even Facebook messaging. The point is we do not need a go between, yet the point is also we need to be sending a message, we need to be communicating with others. The only message which is worthy to send is that of the Gospel and of course that is the only message a fool would not delivery. So let us get on with getting on sending the message.