As we waited for Ricky to bring our breakfast, Stan asked, “Are you familiar with the expression, ‘The Greater Fool’?”
“You mean like in buying something for a certain price, thinking it’s going to go up in value so you can sell it to someone else at a higher price, but that you find out too late that the price is going in the opposite direction?”
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Stan replied. “It turns out that the person can’t find a greater fool to buy the property and he’s stuck with it or has to sell it at a loss.”
“So that person is the last and greater fool,” I commented.
“Right,” Stan said. “The other night I was talking with a neighbor about that very thing. He was lamenting that he might have fallen into that trap of buying something that may turn out to be more speculating than investing.”
“So is he going to sell at a loss, if he can find a buyer?” I asked.
“He said he’s going to hold on for awhile to see if things turn around,” Stan replied, ‘but this opened up an opportunity to talk with him about not being a fool for eternal purposes.”
“Did you take advantage of that opportunity?”
“I sure did,” Stan said. “I told him about God’s provision of life eternally with Him through the finished work of the cross of Christ. I told him about what it means for when our time here is done and we step into eternity. And I told him what it means for the time we have for as long as we’re here.”
“Living a new life in and through Christ?”
“That’s it,” Stan replied.
“Was your neighbor receptive?”
“He didn’t make an immediate confession of faith in Christ,” Stan responded, “but he didn’t reject what I had to say. In fact, he said he would like to get together and talk some more about what I was telling him.”
“Are you going to do that?”
“I’m meeting him here for coffee this afternoon,” Stan replied. “Please pray for the time we will have together. Please pray that he will see the eternal foolishness of not accepting all that God has for him.”
“Let’s do that right now,” I said. And we did. We prayed that Stan’s neighbor would come to saving faith and not have an eternity of regret for being a greater fool.
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Bible verses to consider:
For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. 1 Corinthians 3:19.
Fools mock at sin, but among the upright is good will. Proverbs 14:9.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your provision of life eternally with you, not only for when my time here is done, but for while you keep me here. Thank you for the people who brought me the truth so I was able to discard the foolishness of not accepting all you have for me. I confess that too often I do not help others come to you in faith so they will not have the regret of being foolish for all of eternity. Please help me follow every step of your lead in helping others to know, accept, and embrace all you have for them on both sides of eternity. Thank you that I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Have you stopped being foolish for eternal purposes by having accepted God’s free and gracious provision of life eternally with Him? If no, why? Do you not see the foolishness of choosing to be separated from God forever? If you are a Christian with the assurance of salvation and redemption, how are you doing with helping others to not be eternally foolish? If you sense the need for change in any of this, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 