(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(Proverbs 23:1-35)
1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you,
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a person of great appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.
4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth;
Stop dwelling on it.
5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish person;
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten
And waste your compliments.
9 Do not speak to be heard by a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move the ancient boundary
Or go into the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to discipline,
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
My own heart also will be glad,
16 And my innermost being will rejoice
When your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the fear of the Lord always.
18 Certainly there is a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
22 Listen to your father, who fathered you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26 Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,
And a strange woman is a narrow well.
28 Certainly she lurks as a robber,
And increases the treacherous among mankind.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who linger long over wine,
Those who go to taste mixed wine.
31 Do not look 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 stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your mind will say perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me, but I did not become ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When will I awake?
I will seek another drink.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Consider carefully what is before you,
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a person of great appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.
4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth;
Stop dwelling on it.
5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6 Do not eat the bread of a selfish person;
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten
And waste your compliments.
9 Do not speak to be heard by a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move the ancient boundary
Or go into the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to discipline,
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall strike him with the rod
And rescue his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
My own heart also will be glad,
16 And my innermost being will rejoice
When your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the fear of the Lord always.
18 Certainly there is a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
22 Listen to your father, who fathered you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26 Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,
And a strange woman is a narrow well.
28 Certainly she lurks as a robber,
And increases the treacherous among mankind.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who linger long over wine,
Those who go to taste mixed wine.
31 Do not look 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 stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your mind will say perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me, but I did not become ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When will I awake?
I will seek another drink.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Being content with what we have will keep us out of a lot of trouble. Being content will prevent us from wanting what others have, whether it is power, wealth, luxury, leisure, popularity... And being content will prevent us from wanting more - even if something is good, it can become bad for us.
Being content involves learning about the Lord's goodness, truth and wisdom. It also involves following His will, which requires discipline. We usually think of "discipline" as being punished, but this is not what that means at all. At times, we will experience consequences in order to learn a lesson, but discipline also and always involves training and practicing.
Having been an athlete and a musician in the past, I know how important it is to train and practice. It is about preparing ourselves for a better performance or competition. Just like with muscle-memory, developing good habits help us. There's also preparing the mind, like we do in school with instructions and studying, we can be ready for pop tests and exams.
Studying the Bible and putting God's commandments into practice everyday and for everything helps prepare our hearts, minds and bodies for when we do face temptations, tests and trials. Then, for example, when we come across an opportunity to overindulge, the temptation will not be there or be as strong - if we have been practicing the attitude of being content,
No comments:
Post a Comment