Proverbs 30:15-20 – Living right

Desire is defined as deep yearning or a strong wish for something or someone. Our strongest action in life is where our deepest desire stirs. We usually act with passion for what our heart yearns deeply, be it someone or something. Desires are the driving force of our life. Proverbs 30:15-16 show us that people with a voracious appetite will be enthusiastic in acquiring what they desire. By a voracious appetite, we mean possessing a spirit of never having enough. If we have such an appetite for God, it is a desirable thing. Psalm 42:1 is a classic example. The Psalmist expresses his deepest longing saying, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.” It’s that feeling of not having enough of God that drove him into cultivating spiritual habits that keep him going after God with deep passion. His spiritual habits are sustained by his passion for God

Sadly, when one’s voracious appetite is for something that panders to the flesh, it is not a healthy desire. It will lead that person to be consumed by unhealthy activities. It is like a leech that keeps sucking blood but yet never satisfied. An insatiable appetite is like hades that will never be depleted with souls of the dead. Yet it keeps yearning for more to join the many that are already there. It is also like a barren woman yearning for a child till she has one. It is like earth that yearns for water to increase its fertility or like fire that will be drawn toward any flammable fuel to keep it burning. Be sure we have a voracious appetite for the right thing. 

Proverbs 30:17 decries the spirit of being unfilial. The Bible exhorts us to honour our parents so that our days on earth will be long. And when we violate this commandment we will end in misery and destruction. Honouring one’s parents is a sign of gratitude. And not to do so is showing ingratitude. Let’s never look down on our parents who are God’s instrument to bring us into existence. Let us live to honour them and show gratitude for the part they play in our life.  Obey them when we are young, support them when they are old and to love them all the time.   

Proverbs 30:18-20 tell us that there are things that are mystifying that defy logic. They seem unexplainable by logical. It’s a way of showing that we humans are limited. There are unexplainable truths that can’t be easily explained. We can seek to understand them but bear in mind that some of them are hard to explain. Here are four things cited to prove that there are inexplicable truths in life. Firstly, about the eagles. How come they are not subjected to the law of gravity? Ever wonder how an eagle can stay in the air and not fall to the ground? We know that they operate by a different law, the law of aerodynamics. But how does it work? Secondly about the serpent. Ever wonder how a serpent without feet can move around the rock so rapidly and swiftly? Thirdly, about a ship, an ocean liner. How can it stay afloat despite being so heavy? It defies logic. Fourthly, we cannot understand how an adulteress can be so blatant. She can engage in a tryst and walk away without feeling guilty about her sinful act. This is certainly incomprehensible. 

There are inexplicable things in life that we just have to accept. For things we can explain, we must act obediently, for things we cannot explain, we must trust explicitly. God knows everything better than us. Colossians 1:17 tells us that our Incomparable Christ is the one who holds everything together. For “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” He gives and sustains our life. It is wise to live for and to Him!