Who Will Help the Next Amy Winehouse?

Proverbs 9:13

“Folly sits at the door of her house … calling out to those who pass by … ‘Stolen water is sweet, food eaten in secret is delicious!’ But little do they know ...”

The news of Amy Winehouse’s death is heart breaking. Young people aren’t meant to die like this. I feel so sorry for her parents and all those who loved her. Who is next? Can anything be done to stop it?

I know she made bad choices. But that doesn’t make this tragedy any easier. Her addiction “took hold of her” and she just couldn’t shake it. Maybe you have felt a force like that too. It doesn’t have to be drugs. The bible calls this strange coercion “folly”.

The author of Proverbs pretends that both WISDOM and FOLLY are people and then writes a very penetrating poem based on that idea. Imagine if Wisdom lived on one side of the street and folly on the other. As you walk by each day they both call to you: “Are you confused about life? Don’t know what it all means? Come eat with me!” And every day, you must respond - wisdom or folly (Prov. 9:1-18).

This poem makes me think about bigger forces at work. The Apostle Paul says: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against … the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces”. That is what Proverbs 9 depicts as well.

Of course we are all accountable. If we live stupid, we pay a price. But that is not the whole picture. There is more going on here. There is a fight for your soul. The world we live in is a spiritual place! Consider the poem.

Lady Folly’s Front Door

She sits on the front porch

   of her house on Main Street,

And as people walk by minding

   their own business, calls out,

"Are you confused about life, don't know what's going on?

   Steal off with me, I'll show you a good time!

   No one will ever know—I'll give you the time of your life."

(Prov 9:14-17 Message)

Fun, fun, fun! But once inside, once addicted, the pain begins.

Lady Folly’s House of Horrors

She says …

“Stolen water is sweet;

   Food eaten in secret is delicious!”

But little do they know that the dead are there,

   that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

(Prov. 9:17-18 NIV)

What starts as fun, ends in a house of horrors. I wish we could just board-up Folly’s front door. But we can’t. What we can do, however is stand at Wisdom’s front door and help her! We can raise our voices, we can pray.

Is there someone you should call on today? Are you meant to be someone’s voice of wisdom NOW? Are you meant to “add years to their life” (Prov. 9:11)? Ask God to prompt you. Think about “at risk” people you know (or knew). Maybe you can keep the next Amy out of tomorrow’s newspapers!

Questions

• Prov. 9:10 says: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". What does that mean to you?
• How would you define folly? How do you fight it?
• Please leave a comment

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