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King Solomon was rich yet could see the dangers of living in excess (riotous living). In our natural life, gluttony and drunkenness are a path to poverty. Chapter 23 reminds us that natural riches are temporal and will eventually fly away.

Most importantly, Solomon imparts wisdom on what really matters, what our heart, mind, and soul should be set on. Those things that are everlasting, God and His Kingdom to come. Proverbs 23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.  The “end” we await is the hereafter. The “expectation” is our hope to spend the hereafter in God’s presence and love. This promise is to all believers in Jesus Christ and cannot be “cut off” or taken away.

The opposite of gluttony and drunkenness is soberness. Soberness is not just about alcohol; it means to be moderate in all things. To moderate anything able to be consumed in excess. To not make our belly our god. It is when we are sober that we are most able to control our thoughts, words and deeds; and able to focus on important or serious matters; and be watchful.

In Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus soberness is instructed to all members of the church in Crete. It is required of ordained elders, all servants and aged men and women. These are then to teach others of the importance of being sober. We can see from this that the whole body of Christ, His Church, must display soberness.

• Bishops/Elders, Titus 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, Just, holy, temperate;
• Aged Men, Titus 2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
• Aged Women, Titus 2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
• Teaching young women, Titus 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
• Teaching young men, Titus 2:6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
• Teaching all, Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Like Solomon, Paul reminds Titus and the church in Crete why to remain sober, the eternal purpose

• Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

The current pandemic sweeping the world is a “sobering experience”. For many it has forced moderation, for some it has led to loss. It has given cause for many to reconsider what matters most as we see natural things “fly away”. One role of the Church during this period is praying that those without faith in God, find it, and praying that those with faith do not lose it but rather have it strengthened.