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cravings

Proverbs 23:1-35 (JDV).

Proverbs 23:1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you,
Proverbs 23:2 and put a knife to your neck if you have a hungry throat;
Proverbs 23:3 don’t desire his choice food, because that food is deceptive.
Proverbs 23:4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; since you know better, stop doing that.
Proverbs 23:5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
Proverbs 23:6 Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread, and don’t desire his choice food,
Proverbs 23:7 because like a hair in his throat, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
Proverbs 23:8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Proverbs 23:9 Don’t speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.
Proverbs 23:10 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker, and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Proverbs 23:11 for their Redeemer is strong, and he will champion their cause against you.
Proverbs 23:12 Apply yourself to correction and listen to words of knowledge.
Proverbs 23:13 Don’t withhold correction from a youth; if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.
Proverbs 23:14 Punish him with a rod, and you will rescue his throat from Sheol.
Proverbs 23:15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice.
Proverbs 23:16 My kidney will celebrate when your lips say what is right.
Proverbs 23:17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear Yahveh.
Proverbs 23:18 For then you will have a future, and your hope will not be dashed.
Proverbs 23:19 Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your heart straight on the right road.
Proverbs 23:20 Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat.
Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.
Proverbs 23:22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
Proverbs 23:23 Buy — and do not sell — truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Proverbs 23:24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
Proverbs 23:25 Make your father and mother have joy and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.
Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my roads.
Proverbs 23:27 Because a prostitute is a deep pit, and a wayward woman is a narrow well;
Proverbs 23:28 indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber and increases the number of unfaithful people.
Proverbs 23:29 Who has tragedy? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes?
Proverbs 23:30 Those who linger over wine; those who go looking for mixed wine.
Proverbs 23:31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red, because it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Proverbs 23:32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
Proverbs 23:33 Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say turned-around things.
Proverbs 23:34 You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
Proverbs 23:35 “They hit me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn’t know it! When will I wake up? I’ll look for another drink.”

cravings

These proverbs highlight a number of cravings: desires that might become all-consuming. The message is to seek wisdom so that your desires do not destroy you. Be passionate about doing the right thing, and let the LORD take care of you.

Please, LORD, give us the wisdom to avoid the cravings that war within us.