March 27

Mar 27 - Today from Proverbs 27 we consider verse 22
"Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him."

Another verse on fools. It appears that it is quite important that leaders do not place fools in positions of authority and influence. Even though the subject of this verse is the fool, there is a greater principle involved.
I am sure you are all familiar with the mortar and pestle. The mortar is a small receptacle in which a substance is ground and the pestle is the instrument used for the grinding process. The subject places the material in the mortar and then uses the pestle to pulverize it into dust, usually for the purpose of mixing it proportionately with other materials. The procedure has not changed even from the days of Solomon. What the mortar and pestle is not used for is to separate elements out of a compound. No matter how much one pulverizes the product, all of the original elements remain a part of the powdered product.
What Solomon is teaching in this proverb is that you cannot separate one's actions (folly), from their character (fool), by attempting to break them down. Unless their character is changed, they will continue to produce folly. The greater principle here is that this is true of any characteristic, good or bad. If honesty is embedded in a person's character, you can depend on getting honest opinions and answers from them. If craftiness is embedded in a person's character, you can depend on the fact that they are working for themselves and will attempt to manipulate situations to go their way. If you know that one attempts to manipulate others, you can be sure that when the chips are down they will also attempt to manipulate you - even if they are currently your bosom friend. It's in their nature.
Good leaders look for good characteristics in the people they promote to positions of authority and influence. If one possesses the proper education and appears to have good skills but proves to be weak in character, it is doubtful that they will get far in their desired profession. They will produce out of their character and this proverb teaches that it is generally a waste of time and effort to attempt to separate their character from their actions.
How does one's character get refined? It's not in the mortar, but in the crucible where character is refined. Refiner's fire. A person needs to experience some of the hard places in life, and needs to discipline himself or herself to go through the hard places. If they learn integrity through these experiences, they will grow in character. If they learn to avoid, circumvent, or manipulate through these experiences, they will temper the undesirable characteristics they already possess.
I would not do proper service to our Lord Jesus without interjecting that the desired change in character comes by way of His grace. He desires to transform our character to His by the power of His Holy Spirit. This calls for us to be humble and submissive to Him even in our most testing times. It is in the valleys of life where our faith is strengthened. It is in the crucible where we discover the limitations of our abilities and the unlimited power of His grace.
As you read through the biographies of the great men and women of character in the Bible and in history, you will discover that they were indeed tempered in some very uncomfortable crucibles. But they came through with sterling character. Jesus' brother James wrote it this way in James 1:2-4; "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may become mature and complete, not lacking anything."