When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
Proverbs 23:1-5 ESV
This verse is a wake up call to be aware of the strong desires of our flesh.
In saying “put a knife to your throat” the writer is telling us to guard our hearts by physically resisting the amount and kinds of food we enjoy in the presence of a ruler/king. Why? Because it is easy to come to desire the “best things in life,” thus creating a sinful discontent with our “ordinary” life.
Being discontent with what God has provided for us dishonors Him.
Being discontent with what God has provided for us leads us to envy.
Being discontent with what God has provided for us leads us toward sin.
When our hearts are set on wealth, we will chase it wherever it leads. Verse 5 warns us that wealth will sprout wings and fly away, thus leading us to wherever it lands. And that journey to a land far away from God can begin by enjoying too much at the kings table.