Year 3, Day 314: Proverbs 23

The Feast of Opulence

Wow.  Proverbs 23 begins on a very serious note.  The author is telling us here that if we sit down with someone in authority and they put before us a huge spread of food then we would be better off killing ourselves than partaking in the feast.  That’s a pretty serious comment.

Now, I don’t believe that the author (presumably Solomon) is actually advocating suicide here.  What he is telling us is to be extremely careful whenever we are surrounded by people who have wealth.  When we come into the presence of such people it is very easy to get sucked in a desire what they have.  It is easy to get sucked in and begin to appreciate their “generosity.”  It is really easy to get comfortable in their presence.  It is easy to get sucked in and lose ourselves in the midst of their affluence.

What is the danger of these things?  Well, the danger is fairly simple to state.  When we get comfortable, we are less likely to be open to working.  When we get accustomed to the generosity of other people, we can become dependent upon them.  When we get comfortable accepting out of the hand of another we are putting ourselves in jeopardy of being in a position of being more likely to do their will than God’s will.

I’m not at all advocating the practice of refusing to accept generosity that comes your way.  God has called us to be generous with one another.  However, what I am advocating is what I hear the author advocating.  Whenever we are in the presence of a person who has more than we do, we need to be on our guard so that we don’t find ourselves chasing the wrong agenda.  We need to focus on God and God’s agenda, not the lifestyle of the people around us.  More than one leader in the faith has been compromised because they have not been careful with respect to this issue.

The Feast of the Stingy

However, the author’s warnings don’t just stop with the rich.  He also warns us to be careful about how we associate with the stingy.  The person who is stingy is always thinking of themselves first.  They give, but only once they are sure their own storehouse is full enough.  Remember what I wrote in yesterday’s blog about people who see with bountiful eyes?  The author’s words here are in agreement with that piece of wisdom.  We should be about seeing the world through the eyes of God’s generosity rather than seeing through eyes that are focused on our own need.

Exulting Over Growing Disciples

Proverbs 23:16 is a great verse for adults, leaders, and mentors to learn and live by.  We should exult when those who are under us display the learning and maturity that they have gained.  As our young people grow, they should be encouraged when they make the right choice.  As our young in the faith grow they should be encouraged when they apply godly principles in their life.  As leaders, we should be ready to exult and give the glory to God when we see proper behaviors and thoughts applied into the life of another!  {See Proverbs 23:24 for another example of this same thought.}

Ending Strong

The last six or seven verses all have to do with drunkenness and the consumption of alcohol.  As always, make sure that you hear my disclaimer.  Drinking alcohol is not the sin.  Drinking enough alcohol to produce a change in behavior and ability to make good decisions is where the sin is.  The consumption is not the sin; the willingness to impair our own judgment is the sin.

Having given that disclaimer, let’s look at what the author of Proverbs 23 says here.  Those who drink enough to have their judgment impaired end up chasing the alcohol and the feeling.  Those who live this way end up enjoying the life under the impairment more than reality.  The alcohol becomes a way to “avoid waking up” back to reality.

In the end, I find the questions that the author asks at the beginning of this section on alcohol very telling.  Who has woe?  Who has sorrow?  Who has strife?  Who has complaining?  Who is involved with wounds that have no reason behind them?  Who has redness of the eye?

The author of Proverbs knows the truth.  Alcohol has a way of sneaking up on us.  When our judgment is impaired, we do things for the wrong reasons.  When we do things for the wrong reasons we find ourselves in woe and sorrow and strife.  We would be wise to heed the author’s advice and be very careful when it comes to drinks with alcohol in them.

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