This week we’ve been considering the virtue of Prudence.  But what is it that makes someone prudent in the first place?

Proverbs 13:16 gives us the answer: “Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly.”  Prudence, then, requires that we both know something, and then have the will and courage to act on that knowledge.

The story of Noah and the ark is a perfect example.  It begins with God telling Noah that He would destroy the earth with a flood because of man’s wickedness.  Then, we learn that Noah “did all that God commanded him,” that is, he built an ark and saved his family and the animals.

Noah was prudent: He was man who received knowledge from God, and then he acted on it.  Some people don’t desire knowledge—2 Peter suggests that Noah told others of the coming flood, but they ignored him and were destroyed.  Other people are described by James as those who “know [ ] the right thing to do and fail [ ] to do it….”  They know but don’t act.

Some of us may be impulsive: we act without knowledge.  Others may be overly cautious, always knowing, but never doing.  Just remember, “[e]very prudent man acts with knowledge….”

Have a wonderful day.