Proverbs 23
1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you, 2and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite. 3Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. 4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. 5When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. 6Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies; 7for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. 9Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. 10Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, 11for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you. 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. 13Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol. 15My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice. 16My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. 17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD. 18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. 19Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course. 20Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. 21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags. 22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding. 24The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him. 25May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice! 26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways. 27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well. 28Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men. 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes? 30Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks. 31Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities. 34You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast: 35“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
Life is short. Where are you going?
You just read God’s own words, and one day every one of us will stand before Him. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). This life will be over sooner than you think — do you know where you are going when it is?
The Bible says, “Man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you died today, would you be ready?
Are you a good person?
Most of us think we are. But God doesn’t measure us against other people — He measures us by His Law. Look honestly at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17):
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Honor your father and mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
Have you ever told a lie — even a small one? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? Have you ever wanted what belongs to someone else? Jesus said that anyone who looks with lust “has already committed adultery … in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), and the Bible says “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).
If we’re honest, we have all broken God’s Law — and “whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). “There is no one righteous, not even one … there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12).
That leaves every one of us guilty before a holy God. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). This is why our world is full of tragedy — and without Christ, every life ends in the greatest tragedy of all.
But God made a way
“God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, and on the cross He took the punishment we deserved: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Three days later He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
It’s like standing guilty in court when the judge steps down and pays your fine himself. Forgiveness is a free gift — you can’t earn it: “It is by grace you have been saved through faith … it is the gift of God, not by works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” Jesus — John 10:10
What will you do with Jesus?
“Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus alone — “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Don’t put it off — “now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
And when you turn to Him, you won’t be met with a frown — you’ll be met with a celebration. Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). He is “mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness … He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Like the father who ran to embrace his lost son, He is waiting with open arms — and heaven throws a party when you come home (Luke 15:20–24).
If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Today you can be forgiven, made new, and have real, abundant life — now and forever.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.