Take off Your Boots

Proverbs 9:6 (KJV) Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

I think we have all seen those movie clips where someone is drowning and the hero comes to the rescue.  If the hero wants to live to be lauded there are a couple of things he must do.

First, he needed to learn to swim himself.  If he can’t swim then it isn’t real smart to jump in the deep water.

Second, take off your boots.  It is hard to swim with boots on.  They will do nothing but hold you back.

What does that have to do with this verse?  Notice that this first voice is advising the fool on how to live.  One of the first things us fools need to do is discard the foolishness.  That means we need to be willing to get rid of anything that is holding us back or might weigh us down.  As fools we have a lot we cling to that is either dead weight or totally counter productive.

So?  If you want to move forward in the things of God you need to pause and consider the ideas and habits that might make it impossible to make progress.  We sometimes refer to this as repentance or confession.  Understanding is waiting.