Proverbs 21:17-18 A Balance
Solomon speaks of a balance to things both physical and spiritual. Everything has a balance to it for a successful life; now and in the future.
Today we hit on a topic that is close to a lot of people’s hearts; wine. Personally I do not like any kind of alcohol but I know there are many who do. Solomon also touches on pleasure or recreation. I do enjoy this. And he speaks of “oil” which may be cooking oils. I’m not sure it this means “fried food” issues but it sounds like it could. God did NOT tell Solomon to abstain from all these things. What he did do was to caution us in the use of these items.
God rested and he told us to rest. He understands the need for relaxation and a time for pleasure. If all you seek is pleasure then the working would be the LAST thing you want to do. There are some people who can get away with not working. You could say that my ‘job’ has a lot of time for pleasure in it but I also have to be willing to drop everything when called upon for assistance. My husband worked with a few people in his career who only worked long enough to make the money they needed to ‘play’ for the rest of the year. At least they worked! But just like Solomon says, they were not rich. To have a financially sound future requires you to do some form of work. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” but all play and no work makes Jack a starving boy.
Jesus drank wine during His time here on earth but we NEVER see Him drunk or addicted to it. He even shared wine with His disciples during His last meal before His crucifixion. There IS a place for its use. Jesus used it with wisdom. Letting drink rule you leaves you broken, in more ways than one. Fermentation of wine is a natural process and is even used in some biblical stories to illustrate a point. But every time drunkenness is mentioned it is done so in a negative way. The drunkard is always the “fool” or the ‘bad guy’. Moderation and caution is the key here too.
The oil Solomon speaks about is still unclear to me but I’m going to go with my first supposition; cooking oils. Many countries have seen the devastation fried foods have done to the health of their nations. Our ancestors didn’t eat nearly the amount of fried (and fast) food that we do. They DID have things like fried chicken, fried okra, and other fried dishes. But their diet was varied and the fried food was a treat, not a mainstay of their diet. They didn’t have the cholesterol problems and heart attack numbers that we are seeing now. Making wise choices will save you money in the end because you won’t be spending as much on doctors and cures to fix what we have ruined.
Balance and moderation is the key theme for this verse.
The next verse in our reading had me scratching my head a bit. I honestly looked for a missing word, phrase, or even punctuation that would clear this up for me. What my spirit did receive pertains to the sacrifices that are required under the law. The system God set in place required a substitute. The firstborn required a special substitution offering. When God made Israel into a nation, He chose the Levites to be the substitution for ALL their brothers. The Levites took the place of the firstborn of all the other tribes. They were dedicated to the Lord as His.
In the example of substitution Solomon gives us, it looks like got is willing to take an ‘inferior product’ in exchange for a ‘pure’ one. Instead of taking ALL men out of the world, He will require of the wicked the penalty for the innocent. Jesus paid the price for us as our eternal substitution but Solomon didn’t have Jesus’ work on the cross yet. He had to rely on what God had already put into play. Solomon saw how God would ‘skip over’ the righteous and punish the wicked instead. This DIDN’T mean the ‘righteous’ didn’t ever sin but their sins were heaped upon the wicked instead. I don’t believe they would carry undeserved sins into eternity. They will more than likely be judged on their own sins and disbelief as they stand before God. In the meantime though, they have earned ‘the wrath of God’ for their behaviors.
This does NOT take into account that sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. That is a whole other issue of justice to deal with; on another day.
Father God, I pray my life is in balance. I know there are MORE areas that need balanced than just the three listed. Help me find the perfect place on the balance scale in all aspects of my life.
THANK YOU for Jesus’ substitution work on the cross. I would hate to think that someone else was carrying the weight of my sins. It is bad enough that Jesus did. I can’t see saddling another person with that burden. Besides that, their carrying it would have done nothing for me ultimately. They could NEVER be my savior. That place is reserved for Jesus! Make my life one worthy of His work.
