December 2 – Never Be Bought (Proverbs 23:1-3)

“Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.”
(Proverbs 23:3)

IN WORD:
Greek mythology tells us of half-human creatures called sirens who would sing melodies so beautiful and seductive that passing sailors would be drawn to their island. Though the appeal was irresistible, the outcome was severe. It would always end in disaster for the sailors as they would be wrecked on dangerous rocks.
This world offers us numerous delights. Ascetic religion tells us to avoid all of them, but Scripture says that God has given us good things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17; James 1:17). But human nature takes us quickly past enjoyment and into slavery. There is a fine line between enjoying a pleasure as God’s gift and seeking it as a sinful indulgence. The danger is that whether we are sitting at the table of an earthly king or at the table of “the prince of this world” (John 14:30; 16:11), we are easily bought. We develop tastes that will keep us from following the full will of God.
How can we know the difference between the gifts God has given and temptations the enemy uses to enslave us? It takes sharp discernment to walk through this world. Some gifts appear good and acceptable on the surface, and yet they will quickly master us if we let them. Jesus said that when we sin we become slaves of our sin (John 8:34), and Paul reiterates the point in Romans 7. He found the dividing line between what is good and what is not: ‘All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12, NAS). Rules are not the point; allegiance is.

IN DEED:
That is the key to discernment: Never let anything or anyone but God be your master. Worldly wealth and rulers will seek to buy our affections, and dark, unearthly princes will seek to enslave us. The goal of all such temptation is to compromise our love for God and our service in His kingdom. Ignore the song of the siren, and hear God’s more beautiful melodies. He has bought us already — with a heavy, heavy price. Never be bought by anything else.

“A man’s god is that for which he lives, for which he is prepared to give his time, his energy, his money, that which stimulates and rouses him.” -Martin Lloyd-Jones-