Wisdom and Appetite - Proverbs 23:19-35

by David Woods

The main idea of our scripture is that:

Big Idea: Self-mastery is a sign of true wisdom.

1. Attain control of your appetites, vv. 19-21.

Note that in these verses we see a mastery of one's desires.

The reason that we are told in this section why we should not be drunkards or gluttons is that unrestrained desires will result in poverty. I do not desire to "add" anything to scripture, but…

Discussion: What are some other reasons why we should control our appetites?

I find interesting the instruction in verse nineteen to "guide thine heart." Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

We believe that the ultimate cure for the heart is the second work of grace in which Christ purifies our heart of all inclination to sin and we are filled fully with the Holy Spirit.

We then instruct the Christian to live in that experience of grace, allowing the Holy Spirit to continue to have full control over his/her heart.

Yet even after entire sanctification, the Christian bears a responsibility to guide his/her heart. We are not robots; we must take responsibility for living Christianly.

Discussion: What are five specific ways we can more effectively guide our hearts?

2. Acquire the counsel of good advisors, vv. 22-28.

Note that in this section of scripture we see a mastery of one's pride.

Discussion: Is it necessary to experience _____ in order to learn a life lesson from it?
(Thankfully, no. We can learn from the mistakes and successes of others.)

Discussion: What are good sources to whom we can go to purchase the truth?

Discussion: What are some ways people sell truth they own?
(Trade it for a pleasurable experience, etc.)

3. Anticipate the consequences of your actions, vv. 29-35.

Note that following the admonitions of these verses results in a mastery of one's thought life.

I find it interesting to note the change of verse tense in verses thirty-three through thirty-five. Up to this point, the tense is present. "Who hath woe?" "Look not thou…."

Now, the commanding tense is future. "Thine eyes shall behold…." "Thou shalt be…." In other words, we are being instructed to look ahead to see where the path we are contemplating will lead us.

The following story comes from Taming Your Private Thoughts by Jay Dennis and Marilyn Jeffcoat, a book I am in the process of reading, and would recommend that you read. Jay writes:

Never have I felt more undone. Hot streams of tears cascaded down my cheeks as I sobbed. I repeatedly cried aloud, "Oh, my God, what have I done, what have I done!" Each mile that I drove, I became more consumed with sheer panic coupled with overwhelming remorse and unbridled anger at myself for allowing this to happen. Unable to drive any farther, I found myself slamming on the mikes and pulling over because I was feeling physically ill from the gut-wrenching pain.
The place where I stopped my car is the place to which I regularly retreat for solitude and quiet time with God. It is the idyllic location where I run after work and unload the day's burdens on an understanding heavenly Father. It is also the beautiful setting where I regularly lead a men's discipleship group in the challenge to embrace uncompromising devotion to, the Lord. Now, from the perspective of where I was crouched beside my car, my favorite place-where so many things in my mind had been settled-seemed foreign arid anything but peaceful. I could not believe I was there and in this horrible mess.
When I was finally able to stumble back into the car, I turned off the engine and just sat there in the darkness. All I could hear was my rapid breathing and pounding heart. Okay, let me think. I have to pull myself together. What am I going to say? The first question she is going to ask me is "Why, Jay?"-a question I now am forced to stop and ask myself.
We had often talked about how we didn't have to worry about this happening to us. Now, here I was being faced with sharing something that would break her heart into a thousand pieces. This is the woman who was there for me during the sacrificial seminary years when I was preoccupied with graduate and postgraduate courses. She is the one who stood beside me through unbelievably tough church situations where most people would have said, "I didn't sign up for this." What a fool I have been! I just crushed her trust and communicated by my actions that "I don't love you like you think I do." Oh, God, I have given up all we bad taken years to build... and for what? An adrenalin rush? A testosterone thrill? A short-lived pleasure? An adolescent fling? I now realize-all too late- that I got major ripped-off in that exchange.
Things will never again be the same. How will I tell my son ... my daughter? How can I possibly look into the eyes of that young man who implicitly trusts his dad and say, "Son, Dad has been unfaithful to your mother. Life as we have known it has ended." How can I peer into the loving eyes of a young lady who has put her dad on a high pedestal and say, "Honey, Dad has made a selfish choice that is going to change our family's future."
What about the people I serve as pastor, who look to me as their spiritual leader? Will their view of God-and Christian leaders-be forever altered? Will the people that came to Christ under my ministry someway feel that their decision wasn't valid? Will those I baptized or married feel like it wasn't God-blessed? I'm through! I'm done! It's all over! I've thrown everything away! What took many years to build was torn down by one choice . . . one disastrous choice. There's no rewind button on this one.
But there is a S.T.O.P. play. I cannot tell you the pleasure-and relief-it gives me to tell you that none of this has happened. I have often used such mental rehearsals of potential consequences as a deterrent to dwelling or acting on sinful thoughts. Such a painful exercise has often served as a powerful reminder to me that I never want to go there. It's not worth it. Unfortunately, I have known too many Christian men and women who either did not adequately rehearse the consequences of potential sinful choices--or simply chose to act in spite of their better judgment. (pp. 17-19)

Entire sanctification does not rid us of human desires. Even though our heart is pure and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have human weaknesses that Satan uses to cause us to fall.

Each of us are wired differently and so our dominant weakness may be different. It may be a weakness toward lust, depression, bitterness, worry, anger, fear, jealousy, etc.

I think it might help us if we admit to ourselves that "sin which doth so easily beset us" and then picture in our minds the possible consequences that giving into this temptation will have in our lives.

Reflection: Take 5 minutes to picture the consequences of giving in to that temptation which is so troublesome to you.

The book Taming Your Private Thoughts uses the acronym STOP to teach its readers how to be victorious over temptation. So in closing I would like to share these principles with you in order to help you be victorious over your thought life.

S - inful thoughts confessed, 1 John 1:9.
T - hink on these things, Philippians 4:8.
O - rder every thought, 2 Corinthians 10:5.
P - ursue Christ-mindedness, Colossians 3:2. (p. 177)