Proverbs Devotion - Day 30

As we approach the end of Proverbs, chapter 30 includes the words of Agur. For today’s devotion, let’s look at verses 15-16 together. Why is Agur speaking of leeches, barrenness, fire, and drought? The purpose behind these verses is the idea of cravings and desires. In these illustrations, these are things that never reach “enough”. The leech will continue to drain blood, it never stops. The desire is never satisfied. Same with Sheol, which is the realm of the dead or the grave (depending on the context). But either way, there is never enough, it is always ready and waiting for another soul. The barren womb is always eager and ready to conceive. No one who desires to be a mother is “happy” with being childless. The land that is dry and in need of water will drink and drink the rain. We’ve been in drought conditions, and when that happens, the land is crying out for water through the receding lakes and the dry, dead grass. In the same way, a wildfire continues to rage and consumes more and more land. With each brush or tree or pile of leaves, it feeds the raging fire that continues to destroy acres. 

Agur uses these illustrations to teach us something about our desires and cravings: when left to them, there will never be satisfaction. The big four: money, power, sex, and approval has caused many people to live destructive lives because they find out that those desires never truly attain “enough”. Instead they only rage on even more. It’s a ravenous monster that devours our dignity, our resources, our focus, and even our destiny if one tries to satisfy every craving of the fallen nature that we inherited from Adam. In that moment, Adam and Eve were convinced to take their eyes off of all that God had given them and instead became focused on the one thing He told them to leave alone. Instead of gratitude, they became greedy and wanted. That one decision led to distorted desires for every single person that followed. 

This proverb is reminding us that, if we focus on what we want and what we crave, unless it’s from God, it can lead us to disaster in our life. One of the biggest lies of the world is that we “deserve” to be happy and we should satisfy every craving. For money, we have men and women who will abandon their family to get more. For power, people will sale out any integrity or step on people to gain just a little more. For sex, people will end up treating a mate as nothing more than a prop to quench a desire that only makes them feel less human. And for approval, people will become a completely different person to impress someone they don’t really even like, all in the name of being “someone”. If we’re honest, we’ve all bowed down at these idols at times in our lives. You may be doing that even right now to one or more of them. 

But the sad part is that, in giving in to these desires, you’re actually being mastered. You’re not free, but rather more of a slave to them. And the reason you will never truly be free from them is because they own you. The only way to be set free is to confess your desires to the One who came to set you free from those sinful desires that master and control you. In John 8, Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36) Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying that the answer is to just “not desire” them anymore. That’s impossible in your own power. Instead, find your true joy, contentment, satisfaction, and purpose in the One who came to die for you, loves you, is with you, and accepts you. 

When you do that, you can walk in freedom! You don’t serve money, because you have all of God’s glorious riches in Christ (Phil. 4:19). You don’t serve power, but rather find the joy of being a servant just as Jesus was for you (Matt. 20:20-28). You don’t serve sex because you find your true pleasure in being united to Christ (Col. 3:1-4). Nor do you serve approval because all the approval you need is seated at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:31-39). Ultimately, you’re going to be mastered by something or Someone. The question is will we be mastered by the desires that seek to destroy us or by the Savior that wants to set us free? If it’s Jesus, ask him each day to help you to walk in the freedom only he provides each and every day.