In the Bible, a fool is one whose mind-set, values, life, and heart are anti-God.

The fool confidently and brashly proclaims, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

To me, that really adds weight to this:

“Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him” (Proverbs 26:12).

What a dangerous, soul-threatening thing it is to be so full of myself!

I must be emptied of my self or I can never be filled with God.

Sometimes the water I drink tastes bitter. Well, maybe not bitter, but at least it tastes bad to me.

Most times that happens, it’s because of something in the water. Once in a while, though, the taste is in my mouth, not in the water. Someone else drinking the water says it tastes fine.

Well, I just drank some bitter-tasting water from Proverbs 25:

“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink” (21).

But the problem isn’t with the water here, it’s with me.

I am willing to do good to my adversaries, even meeting their needs when I am able, even if doing so doesn’t “taste good” to me.

And may God help me clean out of my soul whatever causes me to think that water tastes bitter.