What if the real steering wheel of your life isn’t your plans but your heart’s hidden lean? We explore Ecclesiastes 10 with vivid images—dead flies in perfume, a fatal leap from the Eiffel Tower—to show how “small” follies corrode trust, reshape direction, and eventually announce themselves through our actions. This isn’t about fear-mongering; it’s about the kind of uncommon common sense that protects what matters most: integrity, clarity, and a life anchored in truth.
We walk through three unforgettable illustrations of folly and turn them into practical guardrails: how tiny compromises stain a good name, why a heart trained by God’s Word leans toward blessing and stability, and how behavior reveals belief long before we speak. Along the way, we contrast the modern chase for meaning—hedonism, nihilism, self-made purpose, and even cosmic searches for life—with the grounded wisdom of Scripture. Exploration and sincerity are good; a faulty premise is not. When we ignore the Creator, we jump with a broken parachute, then call it courage.
The conversation culminates with a clear invitation from Jesus: “I am the light of the world.” Wisdom is not just advice; it’s a Person who brings forgiveness, authority, and hope. If your reputation feels fragile, if your inner compass drifts, or if your actions keep telling a story you don’t want to live, this message offers a reset. Guard your heart. Reclaim your aroma of integrity. Let the Light realign your steps for this life and the life to come.
If this resonated with you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more studies in Ecclesiastes, and leave a review to help others find the wisdom they’re searching for.
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
Episode Transcript
So I'm going to say here that the master control
room that dominates ourdirection is the heart.
That perspective you have aboutGod, that perspective you have
about life, that perspective youhave about his word, that hidden
perspective resides in yourheart, and he writes, it
(00:29):
inclines you, it dominates youin your decisions toward the
right or the left.
Everything in life ultimatelyfollows the heart.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
Not just for this life, but as you journey through
life toward the eternal life tocome.
Many people conclude that theyneed a God.
The problem is they don't wantthe God of the Bible.
To them and to us, God says,stop wandering around in your
(01:20):
own speculations.
I'm the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walkin darkness, but will have the
light of life.
God offers us his wisdom, andStephen Davy will explore that
with you.
And this message he's callinguncommon common sense.
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
On the morning of February 22nd, 1911, an inventor
by the name of Hervaux climbedthe Eiffel Tower to test a new
parachute he had developed forpilots.
He checked the wind speed, tooka nervous breath, and began to
(02:10):
test.
His parachute worked perfectly,sailed safely to the ground.
Hervault didn't make the jumphimself.
He'd attached a 160-pound testdummy to the parachute.
To another inventor in the raceto perfect the parachute.
(02:35):
This was an act of cowardice.
A man by the name of Rechelt wasan Austrian tailor who denounced
the use of a dummy.
And one year later, he arrivedat the Eiffel Tower to prove his
point and to prove his parachutewas superior.
(02:58):
As he posed in a mob of peoplethat had come to watch,
reporters and photographers, heannounced, and I quote, I am so
convinced my device will workproperly, I will jump with it
myself.
Herveau was there.
He pulled Rochelle to side andtried to talk him out of it.
(03:19):
And a heated argument tookplace.
He explained there weretechnical reasons this wouldn't
work, and he was using half theamount of fabric he should be
using in tested parachutes.
Besides, a team of experts hadalready weighed in that the
parachute was too small and itwouldn't work.
(03:44):
Come to find out, he was notonly going to ignore all of
them, he was also ignoring hisown experience.
He had already tested thisparachute using dummies and they
had crashed.
He'd strapped it on himself,testing it from 30 feet into a
hayloft and it crashed.
(04:05):
He tried it without a hayloft at20 feet and broke his leg when
he hit the ground.
But he wasn't about to listen toreason and he pressed on.
Reporters covering the eventrecorded that when he jumped
from the Eiffel Tower, he fellfor nearly five seconds,
(04:29):
accelerating constantly until hehit the ground at 60 miles an
hour, dying instantly in thefall.
When I read that, I couldn'thelp but believe he became a
dramatic example of so manytragedies.
Stubbornness, willful ignorance,refusing to have the sense to
(04:58):
listen instead of talk.
But he also became an example ofsomeone lacking what we would
call today just plain old commonsense.
He didn't lack an education.
He had a good one.
He didn't lack a good job heowned the company.
(05:18):
He didn't lack courage.
He didn't lack determination.
He didn't lack persistence.
He lacked common sense to applywhat he'd learned in the past to
something he was going to do inthe future.
He lacked that intangible,God-given, protective common
sense, which we are prone to sayin these days it isn't so common
(05:42):
anymore.
Uncommon.
Common sense.
Solomon has essentiallydescribed on several occasions
in his writings this kind ofindividual, stubborn, naive,
woefully ignorant.
In fact, he will use the wordsfool, folly, foolishness more
(06:08):
than a hundred times in hiswritings we call wisdom
literature.
In chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes,where we find ourselves today,
he's going to use these wordsnine different times.
He's going to open, and we'llopen chapter 10 together, with
giving us, or by giving us threeillustrations of folly.
(06:31):
And here's the first one.
Notice verse 1.
Dead flies make the perfumer'sointment give off a stench.
So a little folly outweighswisdom and honor.
You could translate the wordhonor and honorable reputation.
(06:53):
It might be helpful to know thatperfume was as well known then
as it is now and highly valued.
In the ancient world, perfumemaking was a highly skilled
science.
In Daniel's generation inBabylon, the magi, the wise men,
were in charge of guarding theirmost precious formulas.
In the days of Esther, merchantsscoured the earth attempting to
(07:19):
find the latest fragrance oflotion, cologne, perfume.
But of course, the mostexpensive bottle of perfume
could instantly becomeworthless, and it happened
enough times that Solomon hadseen it himself and uses it now
as an illustration.
(07:40):
Flies or insects get into theformula, and once the bottle is
sealed, they flow to the top,and it just kind of ruins
everything.
Think about our own world.
If you went through thatdrive-through, across the
street, you get that incrediblyoverpriced cup of coffee, and
(08:04):
you open the lid, and you'regonna stir that caramel drizzle
into your white chocolate mocha.
Okay, I've spent that money too.
And you open it, and therefloating on top is a dead fly.
You wouldn't back up and ask theemployee, hey, would you get a
little spoon and scoop that flyoff so I can enjoy this cup of
(08:25):
coffee?
No.
It's all corrupted, it's allcontaminated.
The entire coffee is ruined.
Solomon is making a connectionthat we might not necessarily
want to make, but common sensetells us it's it's true.
(08:50):
Just as dead flies can ruinexpensive perfume, so just a
little folly, just a littlefoolishness, can cast a shadow
over an otherwise goodreputation.
In principle form, we mightsummarize it to say this small
(09:13):
sins will eventually dirty agood reputation.
Just a little lie, just a littlelook, just a little padding on
the expense account, just alittle exaggerating on the
resume.
We have seen what a little follycan do in the lives and
reputations of church leaders inour generation, certainly world
(09:37):
leaders.
Suddenly that little folly isbrought to light and it robs the
reputation of its aroma ofintegrity and honesty and
purity.
Sort of contaminates the wholething.
(09:57):
I have visited people in prisonover the years.
We receive nearly every weekletters from inmates who tell
their story of how it all began,and it always began with that
one little step.
(10:18):
In 1859, Charles Spurgeon, whomI enjoy reading, famous pastor
in London, he preached a sermonentitled Little Sins.
And he said this the wisestamong us have always been afraid
of little sins.
And it reminded me of Paul, whowas saying he feared after
(10:39):
having preached beingdisqualified.
The wisest believer, he says,has always been afraid of little
sins.
We recognize, he goes on to say,that hell is slumbering in the
smallest sins.
There is a world of iniquityhidden in a single act, thought,
(11:02):
or imagination of sin, and weshould avoid it with horror.
Because little sins lead togreat sins, so stand far away.
What a great reminder.
Solomon says it this way (11:17):
little sins can dirty or even destroy a
good reputation.
He gives us a secondillustration of folly.
He writes, notice in verse 2, awise man's heart inclines him to
the right, but a fool's heart tothe left in principle form.
You might summarize this bysaying heartfelt perspectives
(11:40):
will eventually dominate aperson's direction.
A wise man's heart inclines himto the right, but a fool's heart
to the left.
Now, when Solomon writes thatwise people move to the right
and fools move to the left, heisn't so much making a political
statement, although you can'thelp but smile.
(12:02):
There is the categorical truth.
In fact, it's interesting to methat 3,000 years later we're
still borrowing God's vocabularyfor a worldview, a categorical
bent.
Solomon, however, isn't makingso much that kind of statement,
although it can be applied.
(12:22):
He isn't trying to offend all ofus left-handers in the audience
as well.
He's referring to generations ofcustom, and this is in fact the
vocabulary of God.
This is his word going all theway back to the patriarchs in
Genesis 48.
(12:43):
They are always blessing,conveying the covenant blessing
with their right hand.
So it represents blessing.
It was associated in thescriptures with divine
protection.
You're always told that God isholding you by your right hand.
You are in his right hand.
(13:03):
Psalm 17.
It refers to God's authority,God's person, God's power, which
is why we're told that Jesus issitting where?
At the right hand of the Father.
He represents the authority andthe power of the Father.
Colossians 3, verse 1.
(13:24):
To this day, we're borrowingfrom this vocabulary.
When we raise our right hand tomake an oath in court that will
tell the truth, the whole truth,and nothing but the truth.
We are borrowing from thisvocabulary.
When we shake the right hand ofsomeone with whom we're making a
word of mouth contract, I'mgonna keep my word, let's shake
(13:45):
on it.
This is why we to this day shakesomeone else's hand in greeting,
and it's always the right hand.
At least we used to do that.
I can't wait to get back tothat, by the way.
Solomon is saying here that themaster control room that
(14:05):
dominates our direction is theheart.
That hidden perspective nobodyin here knows but you and God.
That perspective you have aboutGod, that perspective you have
about life, that perspective youhave about his word, that hidden
(14:26):
perspective resides in yourheart, and he writes, it
inclines you, it leans you, itdominates you and your decisions
toward the right or the left.
Everything in life ultimatelyfollows the heart.
It's the control room.
It's why Solomon will write inProverbs, guard your heart, for
(14:50):
out of it are the issues of lifeand death, we get at.
What Solomon writes here is thetruth that if your hidden heart,
so to speak, has a particularview, viewpoint, it'll lean you
to the right.
We know in the Word of God thatit inclines you toward his
(15:12):
authority, his power, his word.
It leans you then toward God.
If it leans you to the left,then it is leaning you away from
God's authority, God's power,God's word.
You might not like Solomon'sdescription here in verse 2, but
(15:33):
he's clearly announcing that ifyou're leaning toward the right,
you're wise, he writes.
And if you're leaning toward theleft, you're a fool.
I'm just repeating what theBible says.
You can take up your argumentwith God.
But but listen, God reallydoesn't want you to argue.
And you don't want to argue withGod.
(15:54):
God wants us to evaluate ourheart.
Why am I leaning one way oranother?
What does that say about my viewof God's word?
What does that say about my viewof God?
The question we need to askourselves then is which way are
we leaning?
(16:16):
Common sense would say, youreally ought to lean toward God.
You really ought to lean towardGod's word and his glory.
Folly would say, don't ruin theparty, don't box yourself in.
God probably, we think, we'repretty sure, doesn't exist.
(16:36):
Common sense tells us, you know,that small sin could dirty an
entire reputation.
That hidden perspective is goingto show up and dominate the
direction of my life.
Now there's a thirdillustration.
(16:56):
Verse three, notice there.
Even when a fool walks on theroad, he lacks sense.
Common sense.
And he says to everyone that heis a fool.
Solomon is essentially tellingus here that a foolish person
(17:18):
lacks common sense.
And he's walking down a road.
The illustration is he's justwalking.
By the way, he's not sayinganything.
He's just walking.
He's walking down a road.
Hadn't said a word, but all youhave to do without ever hearing
him say a word is watch him.
And by observing his conduct,he's gonna reveal whether he
(17:38):
thinks he's not foolish or not.
It's going to show hisfoolishness is more aware than
he would ever think.
We could put this text intoprinciple form and say it this
way (17:48):
fools will eventually be distinguished by their actions.
You can't hide it.
It's gonna leak out.
One author comments that thisperson is unaware how
transparent his foolishness is.
He more than likely thinks he'swise.
Even though he is a fool.
(18:10):
Now remember, if you're new tothis study, that a fool in the
Bible is not a derogatory termnecessarily.
It's a descriptive term.
It describes someone who isdenied the authority of God,
denied the creator God, deniedthe word of God in rebellion
(18:30):
against the truth of God.
This is described, of course,more fully in Romans chapter 1,
where Paul talks about those whodeny that God created the
heavens and the earth.
They can't get over that firstsentence in the Bible.
They stumble there and stumblethe rest of their way through.
Instead of thanking God that heis creator, he says in Romans 1,
(18:51):
they refuse to acknowledge him.
They suppress the truth abouthim.
And they wander around, Paulwrites, in their speculations
about origins, they wanderaround in the digression of
their moral standards, Romans 1delivers to us, and God makes
this announcement in Romanschapter 1 and verse 20.
For all though, Paul writes,they knew about God.
(19:15):
They did not honor him as God orgive thanks to him.
But they became futile in theirthinking, and their foolish
hearts went dark.
They turned out the light, youcould say.
(20:28):
And they were analyzed in thisrather exhaustive study to
determine what these peoplewould have believed to be the
meaning of life.
You could call it a worldview orwhatever you want to call it.
And none of them really came upwith much of an answer or a
worldview.
17% of them believed that lifewas simply to be enjoyed because
(20:50):
once it was lived, it was over.
And that isn't a new thought.
They were analyzing the writingsof men and women who lived 250
years ago, 150 years ago plus.
11% of them said life doesn'thave any meaning.
Why are we so worried aboutthat?
Just live it.
Don't worry about meaning.
(21:11):
Because there's no hope anyway.
One of them, Clarence Darrow,wrote it this way, was in this
11%.
Life is like a ship tossed byevery wave and by every wind, a
ship headed to no port and noharbor with no rudder, no
compass, no pilot, simplyfloating for time and then lost
(21:34):
in the waves.
5% who are analyzed believe thatwe create our own meaning.
There is meaning, but you comeup with it.
One who represented thispercentage, Carl Sagan, wrote it
this way (21:50):
we live in a vast universe where humanity clings
to an obscure clod of rock.
The significance of our livesderives from our own wisdom.
Did you get that?
The meaning of life comes fromour own wisdom.
(22:11):
Well, how is that working foryou?
That's like jumping off theEiffel Tower with a parachute
that has already failed over andover and over again, saying, I'm
gonna do it one more timebecause this time I think it'll
work.
The wisdom of this world hasconsistently failed to answer
(22:33):
the most basic and yet mostimportant questions of human
existence.
Where did we come from?
Why are we here?
Is there anybody out there?
And where are we going?
Because my common sense tells methis isn't all there is.
(22:55):
There's something out there, andthere has to be meaning for
life.
So maybe what we need to do isjust try a little harder and
maybe look out into the universea little farther.
Because perhaps we haven't gonefar enough in searching the
universe for answers.
Like a few years ago, in fact,just five years ago, researchers
(23:19):
at the University of Californiaat Berkeley announced that they
were going to join a$100 millionproject for space exploration to
see if they could find life inthe universe.
Maybe that life form would havesome answers as to how we got
(23:40):
here and what does life mean.
So the plan is to send littletiny nanocrafts, they call it,
traveling at one-fifth the speedof light to Alpha Centauri.
And one of the mentors of theproject, Stephen Hawking, who
was still alive at the time,expressed the purpose of this
(24:02):
project very clearly by stating,quote, it is important to know
if we are alone in the dark.
End quote.
Never mind the word of God.
Never mind the evidence ofhistory.
(24:25):
Never mind that opening line.
In the beginning, God createdthe heavens and specifically the
earth.
You ever notice whenever theauthor of scripture talks about
God creating the universe whichincludes earth, he always then
focuses on earth.
God created the universe and theearth.
Isaiah clears it up.
(24:45):
In chapter 45 in verse 10, whereit says that God created the
universe as waste, that is, asuninhabitable space.
But, Isaiah says, He created theearth to be inhabited.
That universe out there declareshow big God is, and I can
(25:06):
promise you, as far as you cansee, you'll still not reach the
end of it.
It declares to us the chasmbetween us and heaven is too
great to span.
It tells us how big God is.
The Bible provides the answer,but never mind it.
(25:29):
Never mind fulfilled prophecy,never mind an empty tomb, never
mind someone who came back tolife.
While we're talking about that,we ought to do something
religious, though.
Why?
Because common sense tells methat I'm a religious creature.
So religion steps in and adds tothe confusion.
It adds to the speculation.
(25:52):
It can't cleanse the guilt Ifeel over sin.
It can't give me confidencebeyond the grave.
That candle, that ritual, thatcan't provide a savior beyond
myself.
If anything tells me, I like thereligions that do, that I'm for
(26:12):
the most part okay, but I oughtto try harder.
And so mankind, intuitively,with that common sense creation
given to them, knows thatthey're troubled.
We're all troubled by the deadflies in our character.
Where we're troubled by a sinfulheart that wants to dominate the
(26:36):
direction in the wrongdirection.
We're troubled by thefoolishness that we sense in a
world around us.
We're troubled, and so we'llcling to some kind of religious
system, but it will remove thesufficient atonement of Christ
as Savior.
It's not going to deal with oursin.
(26:57):
It's not going to provideredemption, but at least I lit a
candle.
At least I tried to be better.
See, it makes sense, commonsense to the honest person that
we need a God.
So a mankind is intuitivelyworshiping something.
(27:21):
Someone.
So let's use the Bible justenough to sound religious.
There's a church in NorthernCalifornia I read about
recently.
It has portraits of famouspeople hanging in a very ornate,
(27:47):
beautiful lobby.
There's a portrait of Socrates.
There's even one of EleanorRoosevelt.
There's a portrait of AbrahamLincoln and Gandhi.
Even one of Jesus, as thepainter imagined.
(28:10):
And above the assembledportraits is a statement from
the Bible written in beautifulgold letters.
And it reads, You are allchildren of God.
And when I read that, I read itwith sadness because I couldn't
(28:32):
imagine all of the peoplepassing in and out of that
lobby.
Being told that they were allchildren of God.
It's one thing to have a heartthat leads you into making a
wrong decision.
It's one thing to have areputation solely by some
(28:53):
exposed sin.
It's one thing to think you'rereally intelligent when people
around you can see that you'renot nearly as intelligent as you
think they think you are.
That'll just kind of mess upyour life.
But it's another thing on anentirely different level to
believe the wrong message aboutlife after this one.
(29:20):
You see, that Churchalobi onlyput up the first part of a verse
from Galatians chapter 3.
The entire verse says, For youare all children of God through
faith in Jesus Christ.
(29:40):
Listen to him.
Listen to Jesus, who says, Stopwandering around in the darkness
of your own speculation.
He says in John chapter 8 andverse 12, I am the light of the
world.
I can turn the light on.
I can bring light to yourdarkness.
I am the light of the darkness.
Light of the world.
(30:02):
Whoever, he says, follows mewill not walk in darkness, but
will have light.
The light of life.
So which way are you leaning, myfriend?
Who are you following?
What direction are you taking?
(30:25):
Does it really make commonsense?
Not just for this life, but forthe life to come.
SPEAKER_00 (30:45):
Thanks for joining us today here on Wisdom for the
Heart with Stephen Davy.
We're currently in a seriesexploring God's wisdom in the
Book of Ecclesiastes.
The series is called PursuingWisdom Under the Sun.
And Stephen's message for todayis entitled Uncommon Common
(31:06):
Sense.
Perhaps you joined us late andmissed the first part of the
message.
Or maybe you'd like to listenagain or share this message with
a friend or loved one.
We've posted it to our websiteand you'll find it at
wisdomonline.org.
Stephen has been pastoring theShepherd's Church in Carey,
(31:27):
North Carolina for almost fourdecades.
His entire archive of Bibleteaching is posted online, and
you can listen to all of it.
You can also read Stephen'ssermon manuscripts absolutely
free.
Go to wisdomonline.org andexplore the Bible teaching
archive.
(31:47):
If you have a comment orquestion, our email is info at
wisdomonline.org.
Thanks for being with us today.
Join us next time for moreWisdom for the Heart.
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