For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags. Proverbs 23:21 (NASB)

Here are the consequences of the sins of drunkenness and gluttony.  The father of these sons has been seeking to aim for their hearts on these issues.  Now he does so by letting them know where these sins will take them in the future.

This dad is not brow-beating his boys as he says this.  If he was, this would not be three verses long - but 1003.  That is the way of the lecture - and most of them are usually ignored.  This wise father takes the time to give his sons a call to wise and a godly heart.  Then he takes a moment to offer them a command of instruction - and follows that up with a warning about the consequences that are coming for those who live such lifestyles.  Then he is quiet.  Having an advanced degree in the art of "Father-Lecturing," I wish that I was wholly unlearned in this area.  I've engaged in lectures that took far too long - and were usually tuned out the moment I began my second (of 53 points).  This dad just puts out the facts - and lets them sit with his son. 

This dad knows that if his sons ignore him - all the additional words in the world will make little to no difference.  They will become the cautionary tale for others through the consequences that come upon them.  As a result, this father wants to make sure his sons know the truth - but that they know it with brevity and a lack of wordiness.  Their hearts will not be turned due to the length of his talks.  They will be changed and turned due to the work of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to teach them and lead them in the truth. 

The heavy drinker and glutton will come to poverty.  This is the first warning and consequence that the dad tells his son.  For a few years in seminary I had the honor of being able to work and preach at the Union Mission in Memphis, Tennessee.  We would serve food to the men - and afterward would take turns bringing a message to them.  After the preaching we would sit with whoever was interested and share with them personally.  While doing this I met numerous men who were in bondage to alcohol.  Many of these men were former executives - some who would still be wearing an expensive suit - as they slept on the streets of Memphis.  Their drunkenness had destroyed their lives.  I remember one man who had previously had an office in a downtown skyscraper.  He told me that just two years ago he was pulling down a six-figure salary, had a beautiful family, and lived in a house worth nearly $350,000.  Due to the sin of drunkenness and an addiction to alcohol - he had lost all of this.  Every month that I read this passage - I usually remember him.  Truly, his sin and brought him to poverty.  The glutton will have the same problems as well.  His poverty though may be an inability to play with his children - or a poverty of respect as others wonder why he has so little self-control.  His poverty may be a lack of self-respect himself - as he struggles with his weight.  I've personally experienced some of these things as I've struggled with gluttony. 

The second thing that happens to those who indulge in these sins is that a drowsiness will come upon them.  It is a drowsiness that will clothe them with rags.  Both of these sins lead to a lack of awareness and also - honestly - a person who has to sleep more.  The drunk has it because he has to sleep off the affects of his drinking.  The glutton experiences it because he is too full - or too overweight to exercise.  The result of that is that he is sleepy all the time.  There are also problems that result from blood sugar levels and other medical conditions that rob the glutton from the alertness that he should have.  These things, if left undealt with long enough, will clothe these men with rags.  They will miss promotions - and some will even lose their jobs. 

The wise father will warn his children of the real consequences of these sins.  He does so - not to be melodramatic.  He even avoids such things.  But he does tell his sons the truth.  His hope is that ultimately such warnings will open their eyes to the problems that lie ahead when these sins are ignored.  The goal of all this is not just that his sons won't be drunks and gluttons.  Too often young people in the church equate Christianity with phrases like, "A Christian doesn't drink, doesn't chew, and doesn't go with girls that do."  This kind of training does more to harm our kids than help them.  It gives them the false idea that if they just steer clear of these evil three sins that they are right with God.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In the end we want to win our children's hearts - not just burn a three rule list into their minds.  We want them to be wise - not just in these couple of areas - but in all of life.  Dads - don't get caught in the trap of warning your kids about your list of deadly sins - but not giving them the gospel and good rounded biblical teaching.  We want more than obedience to us in a couple of areas.  We want obedience to God in all of life.  This we will obtain when we aim straight for their hearts - and have as our aim - that they be wise, godly, and Christ-centered.  When we see these things in their hearts - we will know that we've been truly successful!

Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;  Proverbs 23:20

Yesterday we looked at how a father can aim straight for the heart when warning his son against lifestyles that will cause him to be self-destructive.  Today, we will look at how he warns his son. 

The father makes it clear that those who drink wine heavily - and those who eat gluttonously, aree going to face some difficult times later in life.  There are those who drink heavily.  They consume a lot of beer, wine, or hard liquor.  We are warned not to be among these people.  Heavy drinking will eventually lead to alcoholism - which is a stronghold of sin that is very difficult to break.  Over the years I've been a pastor, I've worked with several men who suffered from a stronghold of alcoholism.  They were drunks who drank until it became a very self-destructive habit.  It was heart-breaking to see some of them struggle for years with this sin.  Jesus is able to deliver us from anything - any habit - any addictive behavior.  But we would be far better off if we never needed HIs deliverance from such things.  That is why we should be warning our sons and daughters against drinking heavily.  But the father also is warning his child against being a glutton as well.  Here is a sin that is seldom if ever addressed - especially if there is a potluck after church that day.

Gluttony is a sin.  That is clear from reading the Word of God.  Just as a person can become addicted to alcohol - he can also become addicted to food as well.  If you don't mind me being a little open here - this is a sin with which I struggle personally.  I tend to eat too much - and at times I've been accused to being addicted to cookies (chocolate chip in particular) - but I can stop eating them whenever I want.  All joking aside, overcoming gluttony has been a battle for me.  As I've fought it - winning sometimes and losing others - I've seen where food has been an idol in my life.  I will run to it to comfort me - instead of running to God.  The excess in eating - also lends itself to excess in other areas as well.  This is a sin we should warn our children about falling into in life.  If it is not overcome - it will lead to very serious consequences.  The reason that we do not see them - is because they are consequences that come over a much longer period of time.  Yet they are coming to the glutton - just as the consequences of drunkenness and alcoholism are coming to the heavy drinker as well.

We are wise when we see these sins of heavy drinking and gluttony and warn our children against them.  We need to warn them that there are very serious problems that develop because of them.  If they continue in them - they can even become life-threatening.  Tomorrow, we will take a look at the consequences of these choices - and - we will see how the wise father seeks to warn his children of them - while seeking to reach their hearts.

He who keeps the law is a discerning son, But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father. Proverbs 28:7

Here is an interesting proverb for us.  In it we find comments about discernment, the Law, gluttons, and the way we represent our families, our fathers in particular.  Yet, all of it boils down to how we maintain a relationship with the Word of God. 

The entire proverb hinges on the first statement.  Here we see a son who "keeps the law."  What is it that this son is doing?  The word for keep is the Hebrew "natsar" and it means that he guards the Word in his life.  He does this by living a life that seeks to obey the Word.  He also is seeking to preserve the Word and its effects in his life.  He does this by hiding the Word in his heart - keeping it in his mind - and realizing that the Word (here the law) is entrusted to him.  Thus he wants to "maintain" a relationship with God's Word.  This is more than just a casual relationship that this son wants to maintain with the Word.  He is longing to protect the way that the Word impacts his life - desiring to maximize it as well!  Because of this - the Word says that this son is discerning.  When we have this kind of ongoing relationship with God's Word - we are putting ourselves in line to being someone with a fair amount of discernment from God.  But why is this the case? 

There is an inherent blessing that comes to us when we "keep the Word" in our lives.  Think about the practices that this involves.  We have a mindset that wants to guard obedience to the Word and what God has said to us today.  We take the time to memorize and meditate on the Word each day.  In the end the Word begins to fill our minds and our thoughts.  We find our thinking processes being transformed by what God says - and we consider what He says as worth guarding and protecting in our lives.  As a result when things happen in this young man's life - he filters it through the Word.  He asks fascinating questions like, "Will this please God," or "Am I glorifying God while doing this?"  He wants to see all of his actions and attitudes agree with what the law says.  He sees it not just as a "have to" situation - but because his heart has worked to keep the law near - it becomes a "want to" one as well. 

This young man will experience the blessing of discernment.  He will have that ability to look at two things that differ - and see the difference in light of the law of God.  He will be able to discern what pleases God and what displeases Him - what delights His heart and what breaks it.  What is even better is that he learns to choose what delihts the heart of his Father!

The contrary of this thought is really interesting.  The opposite is a son who humiliates his father by being a companion of gluttons.  OK - didn't see that one coming when I read the first part of this - but let's take a few moments to break it down and discern wisdom. 

First something indirect we should notice.  If this young man's activities an companionship humiliates his father - it must mean that the father was actively seeking to teach him differently.  Dad was wanting his son to have the law as a guidepost for his son.  He was teaching and training his son to be a young man who could discern God's will through His law.  Thus we come to an interesting question for fathers.  Are you training your sons to be discerning young men who approach all in this world with the Word of God as a filter and a guide?  That is not the main point here - but it is one that is implied.

The main point here though is that the son who is a companion of gluttons will humiliate his father.  A couple of things that a wise man knows.  First he knows that those whom he chooses to be his companions matters.  If he makes the wrong choices about those who are his friends - he will be harmed by it.  Bad company corrupts good morals.  Godless companions will bring about a godless lifestyle in the end.  Minister to the godless - but let your companions be those who honor God and who desire to obey His Word.

Who are these "gluttons?"  The Hebrew word is "zalal" which means to be vile, frivilous, gluttonous, or worthless.  The word was used in Deuteronomy 21:20 to describe a son who is worthless in his character and gluttonous.  A similar word was used to those who drank too much.  It is the opposite of what is useful, valuable, or precious.  This is the word used to describe the foolish son's friends and companions.  They are definitely bad characters - whose character is bad.  They give themselves to excess (thus the word gluttony) and the excess that they embrace is an excess of godlessness and worthless things.  Since this word is set over against the son who watches and keeps God's law - the companions of the foolish son are overindulgent in their appetites for evil.  They are godless - and they take their godlessness to the extreme.

The son who keeps company with such men will humiliate his father.  He will live the life of a profligate - giving himself to the same excess of the flesh and the world that they do.  He will embrace the godlessness - and in so doing will break the heart of his father. 

There is good news in all this though.  Jesus spoke of a son who embraced these kind of companions - and who demanded his inheritance so that he could pay for all the wickedness that money could buy.  His father allowed him to walk away - rich yet very stupid.  His father, I'm sure, was humiliated by his son's godless conduct.  But in this story - the prodigal son wound up wishing he could eat the food that he was feeding to the pigs.  He decided that his godless lifestyle had brought him little joy - and much sorrow and disgrace.  As he returned home to beg forgiveness - and offer himself as a slave to his father - he experienced an astounding thing.  His father had been praying and waiting for his return.  When the father saw this prodigal son, he ran to him and embraced him.  What we learn from this is that even a foolish son who shames his father - is loved by the Father.  He is watching ahd waiting for his return.  Though his actions shamed Him - the Father still loved his son - and rejoiced when he returned.  Wisdom tells us to steer clear of godless companions.  But even though many of us ignore this and walk headlong into sin and wickedness - the Father still waits and watches.  He works so as to bring His wayward sons home.  Those who come and see the radical difference living for Christ makes - embrace the wisdom of turning to God and finding grace and mercy ready to run to them when they arrive in repentance toward God.  So, even if you have been a fool with your companions - and have been corrupted as a result - know that God loves you and is willing to forgive and restore!