And welcome back. I’m Bill English, the publisher here at Bible and Business.
You’re watching the 6th video of a 30 part series that comes from my book Biblical Wisdom for Business Leaders. And that’s in fact the title of my book, Biblical Wisdom for Business Leaders.
Today’s episode is on the topic of controlling your desires. And this episode comes from Proverbs chapter 23, verses one to three. But before we get started today, I would just like to invite you to head over to Bibleandbusiness.com, take a look at the many podcasts and articles that I have and the books that I have published for Christian business owners and business leaders. Bible in Business is all about Christians who either own businesses or lead in business and really trying to understand what the scriptures say about business ownership, business entrepreneurship and business leadership from a biblical perspective. So if this topic interests you, then I invite you to head over to Bible and Business. You can also connect with me given a number of ways that you can see here on the slide. So let’s go ahead and take a look at Proverbs chapter 23, verses one through three. And let’s take a look at what this proverb has to say about us controlling our desires. The proverb reads like this when you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you and put a knife to your throat. If you are given to gluttony, do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
This is really the first of three sayings that pertain to greed of one type or another. The next two sayings will also pertain to greed. The phrase do not crave his delicacies appears both in this saying and then in the third saying on the three sayings of greed in verses six through eight. And it follows the sages observation that competent people will serve before kings. So in the last episode, we looked at how competence will cause you to rise to the top and very influential people and rich people and people with power will want to use your services because of your competence. But once we arrive in the king’s court, once we arrive in front of those highly influential or highly rich people, then we need to understand the situation that we’re in and we need to understand their intentions and our desires, really. So the Sage warns us that we need to be discerning about the ruler’s real intentions once we arrive in the king’s court because of our competencies. Now, the Hebrew word translated what? In other words, when you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you that word what.
There could also be translated who not only pay attention to what’s in front of you, but also pay attention to who is in front of you. An impressive feast might be placed in front of you, but also take into account with whom you’re sitting in other words. Be aware of your surroundings, read the room, discern what’s going on, hold back some of your trust. Don’t be naive about the rulers or the person’s invitation to dine. That’s the thrust of the phrase know it well what is before you. But as much as we should be discerning about what’s in front of us and who’s in front of us, we also need to be discerning about our own cravings and desires. When we desire more than what God has entrusted to us, then we’re setting ourselves up to be greedy. And so this phrase, if we are given to gluttony, is a way of saying if you want more than what God has entrusted to you. So if I were to come back here to the verse for just a moment, when you sit with a dime, with a ruler, note well what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you are given a gluttony.
In other words, do whatever you have to do to curb your desires to want more than what God has entrusted to you. Remember that we become discontent when we want more than what God has entrusted to us. When we want more than what God has given to us. And listen, we can be given to gluttony in a lot of areas, including food, obviously, but sex, power, wealth, prestige, the admiration of others, all those things we can want more than what God has realistically given to us. So let’s not crave his delicacies. That’s a way of saying let’s not really crave his life, because it’s really not all that it appears to be. Being around people and this is what I’ve learned over the years, being around people who hold economic and social or political power can be really intoxicating. We may suddenly see a path to power or wealth or a better life by associating with them. And we may start to think that, man, if I develop a really good relationship with this person, I’m going to benefit from this in terms of wealth and power, prestige, position, influence, those kinds of things. And we might buy into their choreographed facade is how I put it, their choreographed facade that all is right in their world.
But a lot of times all is not right in their world and we need to be aware of that. Let’s not crave their delicacies. Let’s be content with what God has given to us. And really, contentment is just about controlling our inner desires and wanting what we already have rather than wanting what we don’t have. So that when we are content, we can be near power and wealth and not be tempted by it. And let’s not forget that the things that God has given to us are far more valuable than the things that this world can give us. He’s given us his presence, his mind, his peace, his freedom from sin and eternal salvation. Really, is it any wonder that in one Peter one seven Peter says that our faith is worth more than pure gold. The things that we really want in life, money can’t buy. So let’s be content with the non monetary things that we have as well as the material things that God has already entrusted to us. When we have what money cannot buy and power cannot acquire, we will be content and we won’t need to crave the delicacies of another who might be richer or more powerful than us.
So the lessons that we’ve learned today are very simple. Understand your surroundings and know yourself well enough to know when you’re becoming greedy within those surroundings. Understand who’s around you, what’s around you, and understand your desires in relationship to that who and that what control your desires and want what you already have. Want what God has given to you, not what God has not given to you. Now in the next lesson, we’re going to look at knowing when to stop working. This is another form of greed. Workaholism really is a form of greed. And we’re going to look at knowing when to stop working. That’s going to come from Proverbs chapter 23, verses four and five. So I’m Bill English, the publisher here at Bible and Business. Thank you for joining me today and I hope to see you again in one of these episodes. If you’d like to get a hold of me, you’re welcome to do so just by emailing me. Bill@bibleandbusiness.com a number of you have emailed me and I’ve talked with you guys about your situations. I pay it forward with you a little bit and if you have a particular problem that you’re encountering in business, I’d love to chat with you about it.
So go ahead and contact me at my email address bill@bibleandbusiness.com and I hope to see you again on another episode here at Bible and Business YouTube channel as we talk about biblical wisdom for business leadership.
Have a great day. Take care.