October 13, 2018: Day 63 – Proverbs 21

There are a couple posts where Solomon lifts up what he would call the misery of being with a wife who is either contentious or fretful.  It seems like Solomon probably had some life experiences which made him calloused to the role that women, and especially wives, played in his day and age.  A big part of that would have been the number of wives which he had.  This had to, I am sure, translate into a disrespect and view of women that was not healthy at all.  Solomon was very flawed and those flaws do reveal themselves even in these Scriptures.  

If you look at vs.17 you will find a counter intuitive truth.  If you love pleasure you will always be needy.  If pleasure is your pursuit, then you will never have enough and you will never be satisfied.  That is a sad state of affairs for that person.  But he goes on.  If you love wine and oil, the finer things in life, then you will never gain material possessions beyond your pursuit of wine and oil.  Now, let’s be clear, becoming rich should not be anyone’s goal or pursuit.  I know, this may sound counter intuitive to some of you.  Our goal ought not to be to amass as much material goods as we possible can.  If that is our goal, then we will never be satisfied.  What a terrible way to live with this goal.