Proverbs 23:3-8 – Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies, for that food is deceptive.  ⁴ Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.  ⁵ When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle!  ⁶ Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies; ⁷ for he is like someone who has calculated the cost in his mind.  “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you; ⁸ you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, several things, not unrelated but covering the whole gamut of life, caught my attention.

Proverbs 21:2 – “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.”  We tend to limit that to the spiritual, but it covers Everything!   God is not interested in opinion; He is focused on the heart, the motivation.   Why do we think, do, and pursue what we do?    

If God has the heart, the motivation becomes pure.  To assume He has our hearts is a mistake.  Can we depart from a pursuit or pattern of thought, or do we insist (God said or promised)? What if He didn’t? What if it is us convincing ourselves? He said Because we want something.

Proverbs 23:3-7 provides a powerful but challenging revelation. The power of desire.   In verse 4, we are warned about obsessive craving for wealth. (These tie back to what we just said.)   We convince ourselves that what we want is God’s promise. Is it? Does He have our whole heart?

Proverbs 24:27 – “Prepare your work outside and make it ready for yourself in the field; afterwards, then, build your house.”   First, do the assignment given to you, focus on your purpose, not your palace.

Proverbs 26:2 – “A curse without cause (legal ground) does not alight.” Consider that in this light. If you are self-deceived and calling your way, hope, dream, God’s promise, but it is based on self, not Him, that gives legal ground for the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy.

1 Peter 2:8 gives powerful insight. “For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word.”   In Proverbs 28:19, we read, “He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.”

Even if they obtain their fantasy, it will be empty and leave them empty.  The chief goal of life is not what we desire or dream, but what He purposes. Paul’s revelation is important. In everything, I have learned to be content. Why? Total trust!

Does God have our whole heart?   Lord, help us to surrender our whole hearts to You!