The perils of dissipation and the antidote
"Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
I. PERILS OF DISSIPATION. (Proverbs 23:20, Proverbs 23:21.) Gluttony and wine bibbing. As the stomach is the centre of health, so it is also of disease. A wise man (Dr. Johnson) said that if one did not care for one's stomach, one was not likely to care for anything. It is equally true that he who cares only or chiefly for the flesh will make a wreck of everything else. Gluttony has been pointed to as "the source of all our infirmities, the fountain of all our diseases. As a lamp is choked by superabundance of oil, a fire extinguished by excess of fuel, so is the natural heat of the body destroyed by intemperate diet." By slow degrees, and more and more, the habits of self-indulgence undermine the strength of body, still more certainly the vigour of mind, until poverty comes like an armed man.
II. THE ANTIDOTE.
1. Early instruction to be constantly recalled. (Proverbs 23:22.) Along with the affectionate association of the parents who gave it. That "men shall be disobedient to their own parents" (2 Timothy 3:2) is one of the marks of the great apostasy in Scripture. But "comely and pleasant to see, and worthy of honour from the beholder," is a child understanding the eye of his parent (Bishop Hall).
2. The truth of life to be held in supreme value. (Proverbs 23:23.) Wisdom, discipline, insight,—these are various names of the one thing, different aspects of the pearl of great price. There are required in the truth seeker—attention, willingness for toil, judgment, the constant preference of reason to prejudice, teachableness, humility, self-control. Translated into Christian terms, this pearl of great price is "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord." Bunyan beautifully describes the pilgrims answering the sneering reproach, "What will you buy?" They lifted their eyes above: "We will buy the truth!" And no sacrifice is too costly with this end in view, as the example of holy men and martyrs teaches—Moses, Paul, the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:24-26). To sell one's birthright for a mess of pottage (as Esau, Judas, and Demas) is indeed to "gain a loss."
3. Consideration of the joy we give to others by well doing. (Proverbs 23:24, Proverbs 23:25.) That heart must be unnatural or utterly depraved which feels not the force of this motive—to repay a father's anxious love, and the yearning tenderness of her that bare him. A selfishness may supply the motive even here, since parental gladness is the child's own joy as he walks in the ways of pleasantness and peace.—J.