Saying 7
1 When you sit to dine with a ruler,
note well what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to gluttony.
3 Do not crave his delicacies,
for that food is deceptive.
Saying 8
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
do not trust your own cleverness.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for they will surely sprout wings
and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
Saying 9
6 Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
do not crave his delicacies;
7 for he is the kind of person
who is always thinking about the cost.[b]
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and will have wasted your compliments.
Saying 10
9 Do not speak to fools,
for they will scorn your prudent words.
Saying 11
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender is strong;
he will take up their case against you.
Saying 12
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to words of knowledge.
Saying 13
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.
14 Punish them with the rod
and save them from death.
Saying 14
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad indeed;
16 my inmost being will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
Saying 15
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.
18 There is surely a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.
Saying 16
19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
and set your heart on the right path:
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine
or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Saying 17
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth and do not sell it—
wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
24 The father of a righteous child has great joy;
a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.
25 May your father and mother rejoice;
may she who gave you birth be joyful!
Saying 18
26 My son, give me your heart
and let your eyes delight in my ways,
27 for an adulterous woman is a deep pit,
and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait
and multiplies the unfaithful among men.
Saying 19
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights,
and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
lying on top of the rigging.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
so I can find another drink?”
As men, we so desire things just out of reach. We come alive when faced with a challenge because they are exciting. We were designed for work and accomplishment, for struggle and victory. But what happens when the world twists this design and dangles it in front of us? We become adrenaline junkies striving for a bigger, higher, faster goal. Money. Power. Status. Pleasure. Carrots rotten when bitten into.
And they’re killing us.
It’s not unlike how quickly you acclimate to something constant. You sleep on a plane hurtling through the air at 30,000 feet but measure your heart rate at takeoff, and you’ll find what gets your blood pumping. The speed isn’t what triggers the adrenaline; it’s the acceleration.
Said another way:
We grow weary of the amazing at the slightest sign of the immediate.
Always wanting more, rarely do we consider that we are breathing, that we woke this morning with a beating heart. We move past the blessing of family, the enjoyment of hard work, and the life in front of us, seeking to satiate that craving for new. We ignore the warning of Proverbs 23 daily. We envy our neighbor’s wealth; we wear ourselves out in the pursuit of wealth that fades with the dust, and our eyes linger on what we do not have.
Why? On our own and apart from Christ’s salvation, we have no hope of finding the harbor of righteousness and sailing in the proper course of Jesus’s great love for us.
How many times have you watched a man lose his way because he started comparing his life to someone else’s? How many good men have thrown away their marriages and families because they took their envy into their own hands? How many sleepless nights spent worrying about tomorrow have led to sinful habits reappearing?
When we ignore the promises God offers us and put our faith in self-manufactured hope, we reap the reward of our own folly: desolation and ruin.
Holy confidence is found in knowing that your heart can be rooted in a better truth, in standing on the reality that your future is secure – that your future is in the hands of the Provider. Our mindset begins to shift when we release the lie that our next accomplishment determines our worth. Jesus put an end to that way of living. With Him, in wholeness as His child, we no longer need ‘the next thing.’ We may walk daily in the simplicity of knowing that our relationship with Him is everything. Old habits will always die hard, but we are equipped to control ourselves and take rogue desires captive through the Holy Spirit. We can enter into a beautiful life— a steady one created by God for us.
—
Lord, today I commit to choosing You. I cast all desires that aren’t from You aside. When my flesh leads me down paths I know aren’t towards You, give me the strength to course correct. I confess to often believing the lies that my worth is found in things other than You. Today I acknowledge that in You, I have all I need. Help me to live in confidence because of that fact. Amen.
