Stupid is as Stupid Does

08.26.14

Jeremiah 51.17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. – God (ESV)

I went for a bike ride this morning and as it usually happens, my mind got about as much workout as the old bod did as I’m riding along. Forty-two degrees is much colder at eighteen miles per hour than when you’re just standing around. So, I road, I froze (for a few miles), and I thought.

At one point were some mental flashbacks of some really dumb things I’ve done. Not dumb as in silent, but dumb as in dense, obtuse; stupid. Sometimes, one thinks back on some of the more colossal stunts pulled and wonders: Oh man! How could I have been so stupid!? Of course then there are the more insidious stupidities of, “Did I really act that way in front of people expecting them to think differently or better of me?” About that point in my thought process (as I am wont to do in such moments) I let out a mournful, mental cry: O God, save me from these terrible memories of the past and let me live today better in You!

Stupid is as stupid does.

In chapter 51 of Jeremiah’s prophecy is a judgment against a then world-power: Babylon. It’s quite lengthy but I forced myself to read through it and I saw the verse above: Every man is stupid and without knowledge… I can attest to that as I realized how naked I felt as I rode along remembering my own mountainous pile of stupidity and foolishness. (BTW: this isn’t a poor-pitiful-me-post. Stupid happens to all of us in some measure – and, it’s a life-long affair.)

Babylon was powerful and proud. They were proud of their military might. They were proud of their conquests. It’s apparent in the text (read through Jeremiah) that they were proud that God  called them to overrun Judah – Hey! Don’t blame us man! Your God told us to do this! But, as the old saying goes: what goes up, must come down; and that is exactly what happened to Babylon the Great; they got caught up in the stupidity of thinking they were too big to fail. Enter the Medes.

Babylon was stupid. And so were the Medes and so were the Persians. And so is every other nation, tongue, and tribe on God’ green earth. It is the plight of mankind. Just look at the turmoil today as we humans clamor for what we think we can bring about to fix it all; when in reality, only God can stop our stupidity. We’ll enact laws that we have no intention of enforcing; we’ll spend trillions of dollars we don’t have in the process; and we’ll never remember that as creatures we can’t fix stupid. Only God can do that.

Fortunately, my bike ride ended but I remembered this verse and I’m praying for you and me and Isis and everyone else on this planet afflicted with: stupid is as stupid does…

Lord Jesus, in Your matchless majesty and infinite wisdom, help us to release our pride, our foolishness, and our incessant bent that we are so cool and everybody ought to know it. How we need You Lord! How we need You today! Maranatha! Come fix our stupid! Amen