“Oh listen, dear child—become wise; point your life in the right direction. Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat. Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.” Proverbs 23:19-21
To be honest, this passage stumped me. I know it’s saying something obvious, like, focus your life, eyes on the prize, don’t give in to addiction (of any shape or form)… but for some reason my heart wasn’t satisfied with the obvious.
I’m digging for wisdom here. Digging, as in, the hard, sweaty work, required for those desiring to go to depths not just anyone is willing to go. Ain’t no way I was putting down my shovel without a fight.
So I sat.
I dug.
I pondered.
I listened.
I waited.
Suddenly, at 3 in the morning, as I lay awake pondering this scripture, a word popped to my mind: adventure.
It’s as if God was letting me know this passage is about adventure… the adventure each one of us are on… the adventures we are living… the adventures we are walking in faith.
To point your life in the right direction is to go on an adventure with Christ.
The things we thirst and hunger for are what sustain us on these adventures. Who do we thirst for? What do we hunger after?
I picture backpacking.
Suddenly we’re thirsty. We need to stop to refresh our bodies. A quick drink is all it takes. We don’t need gallons; we only need a few cups. The point is to drink just enough so we’re energized to keep moving, keep walking, keep propelling forward.
Suddenly we’re hungry. We need to nourish our lives. A light meal is all it takes. We don’t need heaping piles. We don’t need second helpings (except at Christmas, lol). We need just enough so we’re revitalized to keep journeying, keeping adventuring, keeping living out the call.
To stop for too long hinders the adventure.
Stationary lives lead to drunken amounts of ineffectiveness and gluttonous mounds of indulgence. Yet, how many Christians resemble drunks and gluttons because they have camped out for too long. They stopped walking. They quit pursuing. They took off their backpack and laid down their shovel.
Skid row becomes a very real threat to each of us because it leads to a life of despair and rundown faith.
But wisdom reminds each of us to never lose the adventure, to never let go of faith, to never take off the backpack.
