Proverbs 13:25 Commentary and Bible Study

When the Lord created appetites in his creatures, he did so not to frustrate them, but to give pleasure to them in the satisfying of their desires and aspirations. The attractions that form part of our nature and which urge us towards our goals are good, and are a great source of happiness to us when they are fulfilled as God intended. These include the desire for worship and fellowship with God, for meaning and purpose, design and creativity, work and achievement, friendship and trust, hunger and thirst, warmth and rest, and sexual fulfilment. However all these desires have from the time of creation been regulated by God, and are under his jurisdiction. Man had to learn from the start that his desires are subject to the word of God and that even something as natural as eating must be regulated by the specific instructions of God. With the fall and the coming into existence of man’s fallen nature, a whole new realm of desire came into being, which is in direct confrontation with God’s commandment as written on the human constitution. These desires must be overcome or else man faces the consequences of breaking God’s law. But so weak have we become as a result of sin within us and so subtle is our enemy that it is impossible for any to succeed in resisting temptation unless they are converted to God and given a new nature in Christ.Physical food is given for the satisfying of bodily cravings, but the proverb says that the righteous eat to the satisfying of the soul also. The blessing of a good conscience is able to give satisfaction to the believer in all that he does, for he senses that God loves him and sees even the simplest gift as evidence of God’s love towards him. But the wicked are continually running after those things that they know are forbidden by God, and they persist to the destruction of all peace. Many live for the belly and make it their god (Philippians 3:19). The summary of their future prospects is that they will suffer want, for, though they obtain some of what they desire in this fallen world, their cravings will not be satisfied, and ultimately they will have taken from them even the things which they have (Matthew 13:12).