Do you want possessions, acquired perhaps through ruthlessness or sharp practice? Or do you want to be loved and appreciated, and to receive power and reputation? Which do you prefer? You don’t have to choose; you can have them all – through conversion. To the believer Paul says, ‘For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours’ (1 Corinthians 3:21-22). Conversion sorts out the problem of having to choose between conflicting resources, because in Christ we have every good thing. We have received an inheritance beyond all measure, given to us legally, justly, graciously. At the same time, we are loved by God, and have purpose and eternal glory in Christ. God gives you capacity to enjoy him, and there are no more invidious choices to be made.
On the other hand, the worldling also has a reward but his reward is only for a moment, is soon spent, and is all that he is going to get. He can have only one thing, the thing that he chooses to have in this world. In making his choice for the here and now, he loses his soul. He has a feast for a night, but in the morning of eternity, it is only a past memory.
Several commentators try to create a theme linking these verses together, and organise this around the king of verse 16. Therefore, to one commentator, those making the feast are without doubt wicked princes. But what connects the verses is not the outward illustrations themselves, but the thing they represent, which is a gospel theme. Attempts to handle these verses literally prove very difficult at this point, for the interpreter ends up having to place a negative connotation on money in order to link it to the wicked king mentioned earlier. But there is no indication in the Hebrew that money is coming under criticism in this verse.