“Doing wickedness is like a sport to a fool; and so is wisdom to a man of understanding” (Proverbs 10:23). We each are famous athletes, playing in one of two international sports, either wickedness or wisdom! Every day, we choose which game we play, and some of us cross back and forth often, hopping between the two, but the sport to which we’re loyal the majority of the time is what counts in the final score.
Wickedness and wisdom are totally opposite, have nothing in common and have extremely different results. The athletes in the sport of wickedness are called fools, and those in the sport of wisdom are called understanders, much like car racing has racers and football has football players.
The sport of wickedness is played using a variety of equipment called polluted living, physical or sexual pleasure that is against God’s sense of morality, worship of manmade gods or of people, sorcery, hostilities, jealousy, outbursts of anger, quarrels, divisions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, coarse joking, murdering, stealing, lying and all sexual perversions (Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 5:4-5; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; Revelation 21:8; 22:15). The sport of wickedness is what the majority of people love to practice, and those athletes always win destruction (Matthew 7:13). Whenever the ancient people turned into professional fools, God killed off the majority of them. Those who died in the flood of Noah’s day practiced all wickedness until they became like our Olympic gold medal professionals. God destroyed them at their peak of foolish success.
On the other hand, wisdom is an understanding person’s sport. Wisdom uses a variety of cool equipment, such as being gracious to the poor, slow to anger, gentle, peaceful, accepting correction, seekers and teachers of knowledge, prayerful, joyful, humble, those who walk with wise men, who speak truth, are hardworking, those who exhibit good behavior, pure, reasonable, merciful, not hypocritical, helpers of the needy, hospitable, and those who are faithful to God’s ways (Proverbs 12-15; James 1-3; Matthew 25:35-36; Revelation 2-3).
Whenever people became professionals in the sport of wisdom, God rewarded them in just about every good way. It’s in history and in the Bible. Wisdom’s athletes win happy lives, riches, honor, pleasant and peaceful ways, and eternal life in Heaven (Proverbs 3:14-18; John 14:1-3).
Which of these two professional sports do you enjoy playing? The sport of wisdom is God’s way, and it will reward its players in this life and in the eternity to come.
