Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 676 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
What Not To Do - Proverbs 23


Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 676 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 23 from The Voice Translation which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since Paula and I will be traveling for business the last half of August, and I am recording all these podcasts in advance, we will be substituting our regular podcast with short Wisdom Nugget episodes for three weeks, except for our Wisdom Wednesday episodes. After that, we will return to our regular format.

Today in Proverbs 23 we will learn…
What Not To Do
As we continue in the Thirty Sayings of the Wise, we find that many of them are short poems of varying length. Here in Chapter 23, we find the next 12 sayings.

The majority of these 12 sayings have to do with restraint. Notice the repetition of the words “do not,” “let not,” and “be not.” For any parent, these are very familiar words. Parents often tell their kids what not to do out of love for them, as they are actually trying to protect their child from the consequences of their actions. Any person who wants to live a healthy and productive life needs to know what not to do. After a while, these “do nots” become natural.

We also learn that the wise person avoids being easily flattered, trying to get rich, talking too much, meddling in the business of others, neglecting their children, envying selfish people, hanging out with lazy friends, disrespecting parents, and drinking too much.

Notice how many references there are in this chapter to the “heart” (verses 12, 15, 17, 19, 26, and 33) and the “eye” (verses 5, 26, 31, and 33). These are the gateways to a person’s inner life. These sayings are warnings to guard your thoughts and feelings. As you read through these sayings, ask the Lord how you can better discipline your desires.



Listen intently as I read Proverbs 23.

1 When sitting down to eat with a ruler,
take a moment to think about who you are with and what you are doing.
2 If you are the type who eats too much too fast,
do whatever is necessary to curb your enthusiasm for food.
3 Also, do not eye the ruler’s delicacies,
for the food may not be what it seems.
4 Do not overwork yourself just to become wealthy;
have enough sense to know when to quit.
5 As soon as you become fixed on riches, they vanish.
For suddenly they sprout wings
and become like a soaring eagle flying high in the sky.
6 Do not sit down and eat the bread of a tight-fisted fellow
or desire any of his delicacies,
7 For deep down he’s keeping track of the cost.
He may say, “Eat up! Drink your fill!”
but he does not mean a word of it.
8 You’ll be sick and lose what little you did eat,
and you’ll waste your breath carrying on a pleasant conversation.
9 Do not waste your wisdom on a fool,
for he doesn’t care for anything you have to say.
10 Do not shift the property line by moving the boundary markers your ancestors established
or try to steal property from orphans
11 Because their Redeemer is strong,
and He will plead their case against you.
12 Develop a disciplined life.
Be attentive so you can be well informed.
13 Do not withhold discipline from children,
since corporal punishment will not kill them.