The Geography of Attention Text: Proverbs 17:24
Introduction: Where Are Your Eyes?
The book of Proverbs is intensely practical. It is not a collection of abstract platitudes for the religiously sentimental. It is a divine field manual for living in God's world, according to God's rules. And in this world, the fundamental contest is always between wisdom and folly. These are not two equal but opposite teams. Wisdom is the path of life, order, and blessing. Folly is the path of death, chaos, and ruin. Every day, in a thousand small decisions, you are walking on one of these two paths. There is no third way, no neutral ground.
This proverb, in the compact genius of Hebrew poetry, gives us a diagnostic tool to determine which path we are on. It does not ask what you believe in the abstract. It asks a much more penetrating question: where are you looking? Where are your eyes? The direction of your gaze reveals the state of your heart. Your attention is the currency of your soul. Where you invest it determines whether you will reap a harvest of wisdom or a wasteland of folly.
We live in an age that could be defined as the Great Distraction. We are bombarded with a ceaseless torrent of information, entertainment, and triviality, all designed to pull our eyes to "the ends of the earth." Our phones are portals to everywhere and nowhere, promising connection but delivering fragmentation. The fool described in this proverb is the patron saint of the modern age. He is the man who is everywhere but here, interested in everything but the one thing needful. He has a thousand tabs open in his browser and a corresponding thousand vacancies in his soul.
The contrast Solomon draws is stark. It is the difference between a focused man and a fragmented man. It is the difference between a man whose life is integrated around a central reality and a man whose life is disintegrating into a thousand peripheral concerns. This proverb teaches us that wisdom is not about having a high IQ; it is about having a consecrated focus. It is about knowing what is right in front of you.
The Text
Wisdom is in the presence of the one who understands,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
(Proverbs 17:24 LSB)
The Wise Man's Vision (v. 24a)
The first clause sets the standard for a life of clarity and purpose.
"Wisdom is in the presence of the one who understands..." (Proverbs 17:24a)
The phrase here can be translated "in the face of" or "right before" the one who understands. The point is proximity. For the man of understanding, wisdom is not a distant, esoteric quest. It is not something he has to journey to the ends of the earth to find. It is right here, right now. It is the next right thing. It is the duty at hand. It is the word of God on his lap and the call of God in his ear.
The "one who understands" is the man who has discernment. He has the God-given ability to see things as they really are. He knows that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Because he starts with God, he has a center. Because he has a center, his life has a circumference. He is not distracted by every passing fad or fancy because he has an anchor. His life is not a chaotic series of unrelated events; it is a coherent story, authored by God.
This means that the wise man is present. When he is talking to his wife, he is actually there. When he is discipling his children, his mind is not wandering to his stock portfolio or his Twitter feed. When he is at worship, he is worshiping, not mentally composing his to-do list for Monday. Wisdom is right in front of him because he has disciplined his attention to be right where God has placed him. As Ecclesiastes puts it, "The wise man's eyes are in his head" (Ecclesiastes 2:14). His mind, his will, and his body are all in the same zip code. He understands his calling, his station, his duties, and he gives himself to them.
This is not a call to be provincial or ignorant of the wider world. It is a call to proper prioritization. The man of understanding knows that his primary jurisdiction is the piece of creation God has assigned to him: his own heart, his own home, his own church, his own work. He knows that if he is faithful in the little that is right in front of him, God will entrust him with more. He seeks to build, to cultivate, to bring order to his immediate surroundings, knowing that this is how the kingdom of God advances. It advances not through frantic, globalized ambition, but through localized, concrete faithfulness.
The Fool's Gaze (v. 24b)
The second clause shows us the tragic alternative, a life of perpetual distraction and dislocation.
"...But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth." (Proverbs 17:24b)
The fool's problem is not a lack of intelligence, but a lack of centeredness. His eyes are everywhere, which means they are nowhere. He is the perpetual tourist of reality, always looking for the next novelty, the next experience, the next escape. He is a connoisseur of the remote and an amateur of the immediate. He can tell you all about the political scandals in a country halfway around the world, but he does not know the state of his own children's souls. He dreams of solving world hunger but neglects to provide for his own household.
His eyes are on "the ends of the earth." This is a picture of a scattered, unfocused life. He is always chasing after vanity, what is fleeting and insubstantial. He is the man who is always "about to" get his life in order. He is going to start reading his Bible, as soon as he finishes this video series. He is going to start tithing, as soon as he gets that promotion. He is going to reconcile with his brother, but the time is not quite right. Wisdom is right in front of him, pleading with him in the form of his unkempt yard, his neglected wife, and his dusty Bible, but he cannot see it. His eyes are fixed on some distant horizon, some utopian fantasy, some greener grass on the other side of the fence.
This is the essence of covetousness. The fool is never content with what God has given him or where God has placed him. "Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire," the Preacher says (Ecclesiastes 6:9). The wise man lives by sight; he deals with what is actually there. The fool lives by the wandering of his desire, a restless craving for what is not there. This is why his life produces nothing of substance. He is a rolling stone that gathers no moss, a tumbleweed blown about by every wind of doctrine and distraction.
Conclusion: The Gospel Focus
This proverb is not simply good advice for being more productive. It cuts to the very heart of our relationship with God. The ultimate fool is the man who looks to the ends of the earth for a salvation that is standing right in front of him. The ultimate man of understanding is the one who sees that wisdom is not a principle, but a Person.
The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ Jesus "became for us wisdom from God" (1 Corinthians 1:30). Jesus is the embodiment of divine wisdom. He is the Logos through whom the world was made, the central reality around which all of history revolves. To have wisdom, then, is to have your eyes fixed on Him.
The fool looks to the ends of the earth for meaning, for purpose, for righteousness, for a solution to the human condition. He looks to politics, to technology, to education, to self-improvement. He will try anything and everything except the one thing that is needful. He is like Naaman the Syrian, who was willing to do some great, dramatic thing, but was offended when the prophet told him simply to go and wash in the Jordan. The gospel is an offense to the fool because it is too close, too simple, too present.
But for the one who has been given understanding by the Holy Spirit, wisdom is right here. It is Christ. The call is not to go on a grand pilgrimage to the ends of the earth, but to look in faith to the one who has already made the journey for us. The call is to repent of your scattered gaze, to confess your foolish distractions, and to fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
When Christ is your center, everything else finds its proper place. Your duties are no longer drudgery, but acts of worship. Your station in life is no longer a prison, but a divine assignment. The people in front of you are no longer interruptions, but opportunities for love and service. When you look to Christ, wisdom is always right in front of you, because He is always with you, even to the end of the age. Stop looking to the ends of the earth. Look to Him.