When Good Things Become God Things (Proverbs 21:17)
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Proverbs 21:17
Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;
he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
Imagine two people: One spends his life chasing pleasure – good food, luxury, the next thrill. The other chases after God. Only one ends up rich. That’s what Proverbs 21:17 is showing us today.
In my eyes, this is a very interesting and intriguing verse. It’s a clear knock on pleasure and the pursuit of it, saying the one who ‘loves pleasure will be a poor man’. And the one ‘who loves wine and oil will not be rich’.
I think it’s easy to read and hear all that and go: ‘Okay then. Does this verse mean that we should have no pleasure? That to be a Christian means to abandon and flee all things of pleasantry?’
At first glance, this verse might sound like God is against pleasure. But that wouldn’t make sense – because in Proverbs 3 yesterday, we just saw that God’s ways are pleasant! Pleasure is the very character of the ways of God. So what’s going on here?
Well, the problem isn’t pleasure itself – it’s where we look for it.
The Psalmist in Psalm 4 makes that clear: the joy of following Jesus is deeper, richer, and more fulfilling than when the ‘grain and wine abound’ for the worldly. In other words, true pleasure isn’t found in the abundance of things – it’s found in Him.
But does that mean we should reject things like grain, wine, or anything good in this world? Should we live as if enjoyment itself is wrong? Again, no. Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 6:17 that God ‘richly provides us with everything to enjoy’.
Wine, oil, grain, and the many things this world can offer are often good things. Things to enjoy. But not to worship. This verse isn’t a matter solely of pleasure. It’s a matter of its weight and priority in your life.
If you love the objects of pleasure like wine and oil more than you love the Giver of them, you’re acting as a poor man. You will squander the riches available to you in Christ.
This verse serves as a warning about the danger of idolizing pleasure. It’s sneaky because we don’t always realize we’ve made good things God things, but this happens to us more easily and quickly than we’d like to admit. Myself included.
It’s so easy to make good things God things, and when good things become God things, they become bad things.
So, in reflecting on this verse:
What good things in your life are you tempted to make God things?
Does your life right now reflect that God is the greatest pleasure you could seek?
Let’s pray in light of these things today.
