17 He who loves pleasure will become a poor man;
He who loves wine and oil will not become rich.
18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,
And the treacherous is in the place of the upright.
19 It is better to live in a desert land
Than with a contentious and vexing woman.
20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man swallows it up.
21 He who pursues righteousness and loyalty
Finds life, righteousness and honor.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty
And brings down the [e]stronghold in which they trust.
23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue,
Guards his soul from troubles.
One could read v. 17 and nod along with Solomon quite easily. Sure, if you blow all your money on pleasure, you’ll never have enough to make it through. It should come as no surprise to anyone in our culture that so many are poor, even those making stupid amounts of money. We might even say, especially those who make stupid amounts of money, like professional athletes.
We like to point our finger at them, but we are often guilty of the same. Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Solomon knew this, and told us if we love “wine and oil”–the finer things in life–we’ll never be rich. That isn’t just monetary, because wealth is more than money, contentment can’t be bought, and there are things far more valuable than “stuff”.
Okay, we can buy all that, right? At least I hope so, or you might need to seriously examine your values. Yet as we continue, we run smack into v. 20. What? The wise have precious treasure and oil, what is going on? Yes, they have nice things because they don’t put their value in them, and their money isn’t wasted. So after a lifetime of saving, investing, and giving, the wise have plenty.
Rather than chasing all the shiny new things, they leaned into v. 21, pursuing righteousness, and loyalty, values that last. Rather than chasing the wind, they showed the self-control in v. 23, the self-control that Paul mentioned in his dialog on the “fruit of the Spirit”. Right alongside that is patience, and they go hand in hand.
Perhaps it would be good to be reminded of the full list of those characteristics that one should have when they “bear much fruit”: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. These are the things wise people value, that they chase, this is the fruit we are to bear as followers of Christ. Not only is there “no law against such things”, but the law that God has built into this world commands such things. Go bear fruit today, and find your value in Christ alone.