No Greater Fool Than He Who Fools Himself

“No greater fool than he who fools himself.”

It might not sound all that deep, or even spiritual. It’s just something I got years ago, while I was thinking on James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

More recently, though, that little line has taken on more seriousness as I see more in the Word; and hear it as a word of caution, even a warning, for God’s church in these days.

So who is it that can be called the greatest fool of all? Who is it that was first deceived when there WAS NO deceiver? It was Lucifer. Satan. He deceived HIMSELF. And became the FATHER of lies. (John 8:44)

Listen to how he is described in Ezekiel 28: Vs.12: “…Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Vs.15: “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” There he was… SO close to God… full of wisdom… perfect in his ways… then deceived by HIMSELF. Vs.17 continues: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. [KJV]

Obadiah 1:3-4 says this: “The PRIDE of thine heart hath DECEIVED thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. [KJV]

It would seem that such great wisdom would keep that from ever happening. Not so. His wisdom was corrupted. Pride deceives.

Think of Solomon… a man to whom God gave great wisdom, above all other men. But as time went on, his life was lived more and more as a fool… doing many of the very things his wisdom warned against. And in the end of his life, 1 Kings 11:9-10 records: “And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.”

Yes, it can happen. It HAS. That is WHY the Word of God warns us. Shall we not then fear God, and come before Him today, in sincere humility, and let Him search the deepest reaches of our hearts? Lest we too, as close to God as we may be… in all the beauty and wisdom He has given us… be deceived by the pride of our own hearts.