"If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." Proverbs 9:12
Here we get a very straight forward and personal comment about applying wisdom. The message of this verse is that if you apply yourself to gaining wisdom, you will reap the benefits of your labor. However, if you choose to hear wisdom and ignore or criticize it, the person you are really hurting is yourself. While sin does have far reaching consequences beyond the sinner, the emphasis here is that a fool does not go unaffected by his decision to reject wisdom. You will end up living in the house that you build. If you take the time to use good materials and build on a good foundation, when the time comes to reap the fruits of your labor, you will reap the good fruits of wisdom. However, if when building your house you use the cheapest materials you can find, cut corners here and there, and build on a weak foundation, when the time comes for you to reap the fruits of your labor, you will reap the difficult and sad results of foolishness.
A simple observation to consider is that most of the time, our foolishness has to do with us wanting a legitimate desire before the legitimate timing of the fulfillment of that desire has come. For instance, the epidemic of our day that is turning our society into a culture that has no regard for the value of the Family, is illegitimate sex. We have teens that do not want to wait for what they could legitimately obtain inside the covenant of marriage. We have married men and women looking for fulfillment in this area without wanting to experience the hard work of building an intimate relationship outside of the marriage bed. Wisdom requires endurance, fools want what they want, and they want it now! However, they are unwilling and unable to see the personal consequences that will follow their rejection of wisdom. If you would be wise, you will do yourself much good.
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