Or something else?
The wise old king said in Proverbs 23.2-4, ...put a knife to thy throat, IF thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. And finally, Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Most folks refer to verse two when discussing an appetite for food. However, the Lord thru His servant, gave the word much more meaning.
As always, lets review a few definitions from Mr. Webster and Strong's Concordance:
Appetite can be defined several ways;
- The natural desire of pleasure or good; the desire of gratification, either of the body or the mind. Appetites are passions directed to general objects such as fame, glory, riches, love, envy or gratitude.
- The most familiar definition would be a desire of food or drink; a painful sensation occasioned by hunger or thirst.
- Strong desire; eagerness or longing. and lastly
- The thing desired.
In Strong's Concordance H5315 an interesting meaning of the word is noted:
a breathing creature, i.e. an animal of vitality; or any creature that has a greedy food appetite. Also, noted would be a lustful immoral man in mind or body, only wanting what gives pleasure.
To clarify, let's ask a simple question; What do you desire more than following God's will thru His Word? We understand the verse in James 4.17 that states, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. We are very familiar with the ten commandments in Exodus and Deuteronomy. The Lord, Himself went further and said in Matthew 5.28 when one looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
The whole problem with a greedy appetite is to want what is not good for the soul, body, mind and spirit.
We are given much instruction in scripture of what to do and what not to do. We are also admonished in the New Testament from Bro. Paul in Romans 7.19-25. He warns of the consequences when we don't do what we know we should do. This voracious, insatiable appetite of the flesh wars against the good thing.
So, when the wise man says to put a knife to thy throat, if thou a man given to appetite. What is he really telling us? Well, in I Cor 15.31 Paul said I die daily. It is a literal action to kill the spirit that wars against goodness and His will. We've all been preached to regarding the death of the cross. (Phil 2.8)
The cross is a picture of death to the body. This body must be in such subjection that it yields to the death (as shown in) the cross. If the Lord Jesus loved so much about the best thing for His people that He laid down His own life, shouldn't we do the same?
Will you yield to your natural tendencies or spiritual ones?
God bless and keep you is this bloggers desire for you.
Ps 57.7
