Proverbs 23
23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
Consider what is being served. Even if he is a person in charge, examine what is on the table. This requires that you are not so excited to be in the presence of a renowned person that you don't pay attention to what is being served.
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
If you love to eat, hold back, curb your appetite: the king will serve so much good for it may be irresistible and deadly at the same time.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
The king will set up a table to get you to spill your guts and leave you hanging dry. Stay focus and learn the art of silence.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Don't have a job hoping that it will make you will rich. Consider your purpose and health. Do the job because you care about what you do.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Your focus is an amount. Money has a way of frustrating you if you've made it your purpose. You cannot control the road to becoming rich and the price of thinking that you can control it is extremely expensive.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Anyone who does not feed you the Word of God, do not listen to them. Also do not take any offers offered by them.
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Be wise and know that anyone who does not live by God's Word is up to no good.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
If you find a person who refuses to hear you when you know the Word of God, do not continue to argue with them. It honors God when we cease from strife.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
Whatever God spoke He meant. Do not touch one word that was given out of the mouth of God. Do not abuse the fatherless by oppressing them. The fatherless are those who have not been taught or trained properly in the Word of God. If you take advantage of those who do not know God, you will answer to God.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Put into practice the teachings of God, and listen always to the Word of God.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
A child must be disciplined. There must be a strong consequence in place if the child refuses to obey. It is better to hurt his outward skin for doing wrong, than for him to do wrong and lose his skin, bones, and soul.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
If you obey God, others will be affected by your decisions. When you speak the wisdom of God it makes people glad.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
Do what is right all day, one day at a time.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Trusting God will bring your desire to pass for sure.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Live on the narrow path. The choices of a godly is rich and it has its disciplines or limits; it pays well in all facets of life if you can stay on course.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Stay out of the company of people who love to drink and eat all the time. The lifestyle of those who waste money eating too much and drinking too much wine is a waste of money and in the long run, you will pay for every cent you spent wasting time. Eating and drinking wine is not wrong in itself, but too much of both is sin.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Listen to instructions from those who have parented you according to God's Word. Your obedience to God makes your parents glad you were born. Pay the price for time spent learning how to make a God kind of decision. The outcome of spending time and obeying God cannot be measured with all the money in the world.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
We are being taught to steer away from the attraction of worldly lusts. A woman who makes her living by seducing men or a woman you know nothing about should be avoided. Give them no attention to lure you away from what your purpose is. Do not entertain them in thoughts or action. Many times we fall because we wink at or dismiss that gut feeling of this isn't right for me and we find ourselves trapped. Do not second guess your clear understanding of God's Word and plunge into gambling your time by ignoring what you know isn't right and take a chance anyway.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Wine and food are to be desired with discretion. Too much of anything can cause us to lose sight of our purpose. Anytime we overindulge in food or alcohol we will not be able to think as we should. It is not a sin to drink wine nor is it a sin to eat food. Too many sweets and other foods make us sluggish and too much wine makes us drunk. Do everything in moderation. Be ready at all times to give a clear understanding of God's Word to anyone who may ask.
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