Jump Start # 1018

Proverbs 23:1-2 “When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite.”

  I love the Proverbs. They are not only intensely practical, they seem to cover about everything in life from spirituality, to finance, to family, and here in our verse, how to conduct yourself when you eat with a ruler. “Put a knife to your throat,” is very blunt and brutal. Most of us would say, “Don’t be a pig.”

Eating with rulers is not a common thing for most of us. I don’t think I ever have. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t some thoughts here that I should learn. In the presence of company, or even, in the presence of others, watch yourself. The passage is addressed to a man with a great appetite. Such a man loves to eat. He eats often and he eats a lot. The buffet houses hate to see the man with a great appetite walk through the doors. Being a preacher, I’ve been the guest at many pitch-ins and potlucks. The food table is long and filled. You start with an empty plate and within two feet it is already filled. Folks have cooked and cooked and they expect you to eat and eat. It’s hard not to stuff yourself. Doing this very often shows, in ways that one does not like.

Our passage deals with self-control. That is the thought here. The man with a great appetite isn’t going to pig out because he is going to watch it. He is eating as if a knife is to his throat. He won’t leave stuffed like Thanksgiving dinner. He could, but he won’t. He is under control. When Peter listed the virtues in 2 Peter, self control was in that list. When Paul preached to Felix, the book of Acts tells us three subjects that he discussed with him: righteousness, the coming judgment and self-control. I find it interesting of all the things to talk about, self-control was in that list.

The opposite of self-control is out of control. We see that everywhere. Out of control spending—both in homes and in congress. Out of control anger. Out of control passion. Out of control. No telling where out of control will take you. No telling how it ends up. A car spinning out of control is sure danger and in trouble. A kid who is out of control is mouthy, disrespectful and spoiled. A couple who are out of control in their spending are deep in debt and unable to weather emergencies. Put a knife to the throat. Control yourself.

• Control your words. Just as over eating before a ruler is not appropriate, too much talking can be inappropriate. Some would as soon die as to leave a room without their cell phone. Makes a person wonder who is controlled—the phone or the person who owns the phone?
• Control your thoughts. You don’t have to say everything that comes to your mind. You don’t have to dwell upon every thought that crosses your mind. Some need to be tossed. Some will take you down a long and dark path that you do not belong on.
• Control your habits. Don’t let them control you
• Control your feelings. This includes anger, frustrations, pouting, whining, and complaining.
• Control your spending. Have a budget and stick to it. Have a plan
• Control your attitude. You have no control over what happens to you, but you do control how it affects you.
• Control your kids at home. Don’t let the little ones run wild and do what ever they feel like. Control them. Lead them. Shape them. Mold them. Teach them. Enforce the rules at home.
• Control your kids at church. Too many run. Too many eat. Too many are not getting what we are there for.
• Control your appetite. Get a group of people together, throw in some food, and you’ll always find some who are hogs, taking so much food that there isn’t enough for others. You see that at weddings. The father of the bride is sweating because he doesn’t want to run out of food and he sees some with their plates piled to the top because “it’s free.” Been there.

If a person could control his appetite while eating with a ruler, you and I ought to be able to control ourselves in other areas. Sure it’s hard. Sure our feelings tell us that we want things now. Self-control builds patience. Self-control makes you stick to a plan. Self-control leads to positive results. Self-control helps with temptation.

I expect the man who had a great appetite, left the ruler’s table wanting to eat more. He got to eat. He wasn’t going to starve. He also, left an impression with the ruler that he wasn’t taking advantage of the situation nor was he selfish. Who knows, maybe the ruler would invite him back again? If he was a pig, that probably wouldn’t happen.

Control…are you in control or is your life spinning out of control? Do you pay attention to what you say, think and do? Are you careful or careless? Do you look at surroundings and tell yourself, “I best put a knife to my throat” so I won’t over eat? If you think this way, you’ll usually do alright. It’s the person who is not thinking that gets in trouble.

Out of control—not a good thought. It snowed here last night. I must get out soon. I will be very cautious. There are few things worse than driving out of control. There are few things worse that living a life that is out of control. A person doesn’t have to be in drug rehab or anger management classes to recognize that things are out of control. It happens all the time and all around us. Spinning lives that have lost focus, direction and purpose. Lives out of control.

The solution? Go to the kitchen and get a knife. Not literally, but symbolically. Get yourself under control. Take hold of your choices. Have a plan. Set your eyes upon Heaven. Don’t do what others do. They are out of control. Be different.

All it took was a knife…

Roger