When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.
Proverbs 23:1-4
When I first read this passage last evening I thought this had to do with making a fool of oneself in the presence of the "ruler," the one who displays power and wealth. I see now something totally different at work. The issue is not how you're going to look but what you're going to become. Am I going to become one enticed by the fineries of this world, the delicacies of this world's banqueting tables? Am I going to wear myself our to get rich and acquire the friendship of those who profess power and prestige but can add little, if anything, to my eternal destiny? Or am I going to learn to be content with what I have and invest my time and energy in eternal matters which support and build the only kingdom that counts, that please the only One who can add anything to my life? I want to be one whose life counts for more than climbing the social ladder. I want to drop below the radar of this world and be seen only by the One who sees what is done in secret.
