Proverbs 30.21-23
“Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.”
I want to close out this week’s series by focusing on the core problem in each of these four situations: Each person desires and acquires something they do not deserve or should not have.
- A slave desires to become king, but he isn’t qualified.
- A fool desires to be filled with food, but he isn’t willing to work for it.
- A bitter woman desires a husband, but she isn’t prepared for a healthy relationship.
- A maidservant desires the place of her mistress, and pursues it shamelessly.
It is a problem/warning we have addressed before: Desire without discipline. Everyone has desire. The question is, what is the object of your desire? What do your passions want? A desire is neutral until it is attached to something. A desire to serve and support people is good. A desire to lie and steal from people is bad. A desire for an occasional beer is good. A craving for beer every day is an addiction.
“Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” (Proverbs 19.2)
The desires of our new nature are good. The desires of our old, sinful nature are not good. Passion without discipline is dangerous. It’s an unguided missile. Everyone has passion, but not everyone has the discipline to properly focus and manage their passion. This is the great challenge of humanity.
The apostle Peter wrote about this. “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). The word here for “passion” is epithumia, which can also be translated “desire.” It is sometimes translated “lust.”
Peter also spoke to this in his first epistle: “Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.” The apostle is warning against the desires of our old, sinful nature. This is misdirected passion. This is the unguided missile that Proverbs 19.2 speaks about. This is desire without knowledge.
The book of Ecclesiastes provides this commentary: “All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied … Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite.” (Ecclesiastes 6.7-9)
An “unsatisfied appetite” is characterized by greed, gluttony, lust, or addiction. It is an out-of-control desire for something. Default desires are dangerous because they’re never satisfied; they are always looking for more. Thus the reference to “the wandering of the appetite.”
Desire is a natural and powerful force in our lives, but it must be managed and properly directed. Desire without discipline is unbearable.
Trust God, and be disciplined about where you direct your desires.
