Does God want us to live moderately rather than chase extreme pleasure?

[jennifer_bloom]

I view social media in my spare time and I hear over and over again about very rich or beautiful people who end up with great wealth and riches and praise and honour, and then something horrible happens to them and they lose far more than the receive.

The bible says, he who loves pleasure will become poor, he who loves wine and oil, will not become rich, and I have mentioned before, that poverty is not always financial, it could be medical poverty, emotional poverty, relational poverty, mental poverty, time poverty, dignity poverty, anxiety poverty, reputation poverty, inclusion poverty, or religious poverty.

And wine is not just about alcohol, the wine can also represent fantasies, delusions, dreams, wishes, imaginary desires, jealousy, lying ideas about who you are and what your value is, and being drunk on pride or anger or jealousy.

And oil is not just oil, it can be a life of great easy and laziness, a life of severe indifference to the needs and feelings of others, a life of unnecessary material possessions or service personnel, a life of wasted time on endless recreation and pleasantries, paying five times more for chocolate just to upgrade the taste of your chocolate by 5% more than before, or asking for kindness and accommodation by others when you do not need it.

The bible says if you care about physical wine and physical oil, or about metaphorical wine and metaphorical oil, you will not be rich in either insight and truth, or in joy and emotional well being.

I also believe the wine might represent praise and involvement, and the oil might represent honour and forgiveness.

In which case the wine would mean, too many social obligations in your schedule, and the oil might represent too many honours in your life.

[NewtoCalifornia]

Definitely. Enter through the narrow gate.