Puritan Reading ~ Thomas Brooks (The Fool)

​"The heart of fools is in the house of pleasure." Ecclesiastes 7:4

A fool prefers toys and trifles, above things of greatest worth.

Just so, wicked and ungodly men prefer their lusts, before the Lord. Upon choice, they prefer the honors, the riches and glory of this fleeting world—above their own souls and the great concerns of eternity.

I have read of the foolish people of Ceylon, who preferred a consecrated ape's tooth, above an incredible mass of treasure. Such fools are all unholy people, who prefer the toys and trifles of this world—above the eternal pleasures and treasures which are at God's right hand. The world is full of such fools.

Says one: "If you behold the lives of men, you will judge the whole world to be a house of fools!"

Ah, friends! What folly can be compared to that of men's spending their time, their strength, their lives, their souls—in getting the ephemeral things of this world, and neglecting that one thing necessary—the salvation of their souls! Oh, what vanity is it to prefer . . .
  a puff of honor,
  a blast of fame,
  a dream of pleasure,
  a wedge of gold,
  a Babylonish garment,
  and such like transitory trifles and trash
—before a blessed eternity!

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" Matthew 16:26
~ Thomas Brooks (1662)