Proverbs 21.17
“Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.”
This proverb does not reject pleasure; rather, it is a warning against over-indulgence. Having pleasurable, delightful experiences is a good thing. Indeed, God designed us to experience pleasure. However, any good thing can be taken too far.
Fire can cook your food, but it can also burn your house down. Wisdom demands moderation. The bible is not opposed to the consumption of alcohol. It does not prohibit having a beer or a glass of wine. Scripture is not against partying and having a good time. What the bible warns against is excess.
By all means enjoy pleasure, but don’t love it to the point of over-indulgence. By all means enjoy having a beer at a party or a glass of wine at a dinner, but don’t get inebriated. And certainly don’t consume to the point of addiction.
“Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” (Ecclesiastes 10.16-17)
The consequences of addiction are devastating, and not just for the individual, but also for the people around them. This is true in a marriage or a family. It is true in a nation. As the passage from Ecclesiastes tells us, when leaders are undisciplined and indulgent, the whole nation suffers. Consumption of pleasure without discipline will lead to personal and even national disaster.
“Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” (Proverbs 19.2)
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.”
Again, everyone has passion. The question is, what is the object of your passion? What do your passions want? A desire is neutral until its 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. The desires of our new nature are good. The desires of our old, sinful nature are not good.
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. Trust God, and be disciplined about where you direct your desires.
