“And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite” (Proverbs 23:2).
“Given to appetite” here is to be understood both spiritually and physically. Many die before their time. By disobeying God, death is the result—whether it is in reference to being deceived away from Truth and committing adultery by embracing (eating) false doctrine or being given to appetite literally by the food one consumes.
There are many who have died before their time, because of a misguided appetite in those things that pertain to life. They express no desire for the fruit of the Spirit. They have no love for God. Therefore, they possess no love for others or themselves. They have no real joy or peace. They thrive on being impatient with others. They have no desire to express patience or longsuffering. Neither do they tend to be gentle. They desire no goodness. They have no faith. They show no meekness, no self-control or temperance in anything.
I’m not talking about those who do not have a clue about who God is or what God requires. I’m speaking of those who don’t want to obey God, because they mistakenly believe that if they do what God says, then it is “trying to be saved by works.” This is so very far from what God says. According to His Word, there is no law against having the fruit of the Spirit, which is expressed in one’s life as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
Exercising our faith and choice to simply do God’s Word, knowing that He is doing the works within us and not we ourselves: This is simply loving God by faith. It is the faith of Jesus that we want to attain and express. There is no selfishness in the faith of Jesus. There is no selfishness in a complete surrender to the will of God. There is no self-expression in Agape: God’s love. There is no self in keeping the Commandments of God. There is only cherishing, protecting, handling with care as you would a newly born babe the Commandments of God—observing and doing them, for they are holy.
There is no law against living God’s law of love. His Ten Commandment law is His law of liberty. Rather, it is Christ who lives within us through the power of His Holy Spirit that the mind of Christ become ours. That is the hope of glory. It is not self—but Christ—who lives in the soul. All we have to do with it is our choice and by faith believe that God will do the rest.
Check this out:
Acts 17:28-31 KJV
[28] For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. [29] Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. [30] And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: [31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
The just shall live by faith. It is by faith we are made righteous by the working of the Holy Spirit. Right living is loving God. Righteousness is Christ living in us. We have none of our own. Our own righteousness is as filthy rags. I cannot express this enough.
Christ can only live in us to the degree that we have died. As we give up self-will to the will of God, He reigns in us by our faith choice to surrender one-hundred-percent to Him. We open the door wide and invite Him in. We ask Him to take full control, to take the reigns. We don’t want to govern ourselves, because we realize we do not know enough to successfully do that. Instead, we live by faith, and through the Holy Spirit Christ abides in us. The same, therefore, brings forth much fruit; for without Him we can do nothing.
Our living: whether we are eating or drinking or doing anything daily, it is our daily worship. Our daily choices speak volumes of whom we serve. Our service is our worship. We worship either God or Satan. Period.
When we truly love God, because He first loved us, we are fully surrendered to Him. Every day we live in obedience to His word, His truth, His commandments. For this, He has made us free, free indeed. No longer in bondage to sin and Satan or tending toward death. We are free to live.
Why die before your time?