This chapter begins with something very small that can ruin a whole lot of good. Just like it only takes on bad apple, so it only takes on dead fly to ruin perfume. But he moves on to equate that to our lives as we go about our business there is inherent risk in all that we do. This morning I went over to a member’s house and helped cut and carry off some wood. It wasn’t that big of a job, but in all things, even in this, there is inherent risk.
I tend to be more of a risk taker than I am risk averse. He speaks about a ruler that reigns and is at heart a fool, or as vs.16 states a child. Vs. 16 can be translated as either a child or a servant. As vs.9 tells us there is nothing inherently wrong with splitting logs or quarrying stones. But with all of that, as with all of life, there are inherent risks that come from that exercise.
If a fool is in power then the assumption that is that even in the normal course of life you are more in danger because the person who is in charge, well, isn’t competent. So you can go about splitting logs and everything would be fine with a strong ruler. But if you have a fool for a ruler then even when you are splitting logs it can impact you in a negative way. Something to think about.
Amen!