#WISDOMSample

You Are What You Eat

“You are what you eat.” This saying isn’t in the book of Proverbs, but I think it could be. Today’s chapter focuses a lot on the direct correlation between what we consume and the quality of our lives. The modern day proverb of ‘you are what you eat’ is a way to challenge us to rethink what we put in our body and question if it is really the healthiest decision we could make. Way before anyone said ‘you are what you eat,’ Proverbs 23 observed that we are what we surround our lives with.

Now, before we go on, I want to remind you that Proverbs focuses much more on describing the life God wants for us than on prescribing exactly how to attain that life. Proverbs gives us a vision for the path that God has for us, but it doesn’t give the specific step-by-step instruction for our life. As we have said before, Proverbs are principals to guide our lives and not promises that determine the outcome of our lives.

The problem with taking Proverbs as promises and not principles is that sometimes it makes it impossible for us to understand the rest of the Bible. Take, for example, Proverbs 23:20-21. It says, “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

That Proverb is an excellent principle to live by, but what do we do when we get to the stories of Jesus when he says in Matthew 11:19, “The Son of Man [Jesus] came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

Was Jesus disobeying Proverbs 23:20-21?

If Proverbs are promises, then, yes, he was disobeying. However, if Proverbs 23:20-21 is a principle about what we surround our lives with, then he wasn’t disobeying anything. In fact, the way Jesus followed this principle was that He spent a tremendous amount of time saturating Himself in time with God the Father.

It was because of how He wisely surrounded Himself with God the Father that He was able to be light and wisdom for those who needed it most desperately. If we want to live like Jesus, then we need to listen to the advice of Proverbs 23 and be saturated in the things of God so we can embody that wisdom for the world around us.

As you read today, ask yourself, ‘What am I surrounding myself with and what do I need to do to saturate myself more with the things of God?”