Jesus is a lot to handle sometimes. Bold doesn’t begin to cover it. In the seventh chapter of Luke’s gospel he has an interaction with the crowd in which he essentially tells them, “You people are impossible to please!” He speaks briefly about their issues with John the Baptist, and also their issues with himself, then he says this line, “But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Heavily weighted words, indeed! Is it a slap to the face? Is it an exhortation? Is it a compliment? Perhaps the answer to each is ‘yes.’

Who exactly are ‘wisdom’s children?’ It seems to me that the fruits of any given situation are wisdom’s children – the choices we make have consequences, both good and bad, that are dependent on the wisdom used in decision-making. Wisdom is indeed proved right by her children – the opposite then must be true; the proof of folly is also in her children. On the heels of his previous words, it feels like Jesus is saying something like, “You believe what you want to believe – we’ll see how it works out in the end.”

Daily we are tasked with countless decisions, and deciphering between wisdom and folly can be difficult. Consider 1 Corinthians 3:19, “the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” When left to our own devices, we are quick to choose the wisdom of the world, folly in God’s eyes. Perhaps, as the world’s foolishness has proven, we would do better to make Christ a more central part of our decision making.

Jesus has given each of us full permission to make the decisions of our own choosing – to follow the wisdom of our choice. He does warn us however, that the proof of our wisdom will be in the outcome. Why not choose to lean on the wisdom that ordered the universe?