Excess Leads to Poverty and Away from God – (Proverbs 21:17)
Daily Proverbs
Daily Bible Study
The term, "He who loves wine and oil" was an idiom meant to signify luxurious living. God is not condemning the use of wine and oil, nor is God condemning wealth in this passage. Rather, this proverb speaks of living in excess, what we today would call luxurious living. This passage is speaking of placing the excesses of life above God and His path for our lives. In other words, making material possessions more important than God, more important than people and more important than God's will. This includes the seeking after of expensive material possessions in excess for no other purpose than to have them. This passage is speaking about the attitude where the pleasures and experiences of expensive living and having the most expensive indulgences have become the highest priority in one's life, thereby replacing God. We have to remember that God blesses us with wealth and talents so we can use them to help those in need around us and be a blessing to others.
God blesses us, in order that we can help further the Gospel of Christ, help the kingdom of God and to be a blessing to others. The Bible tells us here in this passage and elsewhere that this type of living will lead to poverty, both material and more importantly spiritually. Moreover, that if we pursue this long enough, it replaces God in our lives and closes our hearts off to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And that is the greatest danger we face, and it's this warning which is at the heart of this passage. This passage first speaks on the practical side, which we can apply to our day to day lives. That is if we love expensive things, then we run the risk of poverty as we spend our wealth in an effort to purchase and accumulate more stuff. Secondly, it speaks of spiritual poverty and happiness, because true peace and joy are found in the Lord, not in our possessions. And the more we stray from God and seek after the things of this world, the more spiritual poverty we will experience. It's only through our faith in Christ that we can have eternal life to come and a more abundant life now as we live for the Lord.