Will Mikey Eat Anything?
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. -Proverbs 15:14
I’ll tell you how I wanted to begin this devotion. I wanted to use Mikey from the Life cereal commercials to talk about the indiscriminate grazing of sheep. I was going to quote that iconic phrase, “Give it to Mikey, he’ll eat anything!” But upon further research I realize this is one of those Mandela Effect things for me. The little kids never said that. Instead, they say, “he won’t eat it he hates everything!” There goes my introduction. (Watch it for yourself: Life Cereal Commerical)
I wanted to use that to then transition into talking about sheep in the middle east. Or goats. I remember an episode of the Andy Griffith Show where Jimmy the Goat would eat anything—apparently including dynamite. If it was in front of his face he’d eat it. That is what this proverb is saying about the mouth of the fool—it feeds on folly. The word for “feeds” is a word that would be used of the indiscriminate eating of animals in a pasture—mostly likely sheep and goats.
Contrast this with the person of understanding. Note that such a person already has understanding but they are seeking even more. When a person has legitimate knowledge and wisdom on a subject, or even being generally people of wisdom, they’ll never be satisfied. The more we know something, almost anything, the more we realize it to be inexhaustible. That’s pretty much true of anything which comes from the hand of an eternal being. The wise will keep seeking.
That’s not the case with the fool. The fool just feeds on foolishness. It’s his diet. Sure, he might stumble upon some truth and some good eating, but that’s sheerly by accident. It’s the proverbial blind squirrel finding a nut.
If you want to find out which one of these you are, check your social media diet. When you see some juicy morsel, do you thoughtlessly consume it or do you pause and seek a little more information? Worse yet, some of us end up not only indiscriminately grazing but also calling our friends over for a delicious bite as well, via our share buttons. The person of understanding will have a posture of curiosity. It might come across as cynical or skeptical—seeking to get to the bottom of a thing and not taking it at face value. But in reality, it’s a quest for truth. It’s a curiosity to know if something is good food or deadly chow. The fool doesn’t ask these questions.
There is also a real temptation for us to let down our guard in some fields. If it’s a familiar field or the field of a trusted ol’ farmer—we might graze without much thought. Likewise, if the information is coming from our party, from a trusted Bible teacher, or is even talking about familiar concepts and using biblical words, we’ll be less cautious. But folly can come packaged with Bible verses. We do well to always have a wisdom-seeking curiosity about us, no matter the topic.
Application: Do I seek or feed? How can I pray for God to spark a curiosity within me? Perhaps train yourself today to pause a little. Ask one discerning question of everything you read. Don’t indiscriminately graze. We can all grow in this area. Are there any fields of which you’ve been uncritically grazing?
Gospel Connection: Let’s take this idea of the uncritical grazing of sheep a little further. That’s really their nature. They might be a little selective but sheep and goats will eat things that are toxic if they aren’t in fertile land. The difference is in the shepherd. Good shepherds give their sheep good pasture. Jesus is that Good Shepherd. Know that our fallen proclivities will be to foolish feeding. But Jesus transforms us into selective seekers.
Book of the Week: Jared Wilson is one of my favorite authors. Many moons ago, I was on the blog tour of Jared’s first book. He’s written about a million books since then. He’s a great author who always points us back to Jesus. I was excited to hear that he’d written a book on writing. I am almost finished with The Storied Life. It has been both refining and inspiring for my own journey as a writer. If you want it, click the pic:
