The acorns with which God feeds swine! -watson

[b]The acorns with which God feeds swine![/b]

(Thomas Watson, "The Art of Divine Contentment")

"I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked!" Psalm 73:3

It is often that the evil enjoy all the good—and the
good endure all the evil. Be contented; for remember:

Worldly goods are not the only things, nor the best
things. They are mere temporal blessings. These are
but the acorns with which God feeds swine!
You who are believers have more choice fruit—the
olive, the pomegranate, the fruit which grows on
the true vine Jesus Christ! Others have the fat of
the earth—you have the dew of heaven! They have
muddied puddles—but you have those springs of
living water which are purified with Christ's blood,
and filled with His love!

To see the wicked flourish is rather a matter of pity,
than of envy! This is all the heaven they will
have! "Woe to you who are rich, for you have your
only happiness now!" (Luke 6:24) Hence it was,
that David made it his solemn prayer, "Deliver me
from the wicked, from men of the world, who have
their portion in this life!" Psalm 17:15

When the wicked have eaten of their dainty dishes
—there comes in a sad reckoning, which will spoil all.

We should not envy a man who will fry and blaze
in hell—let him have enough of the fat of the earth.
O remember—for every sand of mercy which runs
out of the wicked, God puts a drop of wrath into
His vial! "You are storing up wrath for yourself in
the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment
is revealed." Romans 2:5

Do you envy the wicked? Alas! their prosperity is
like Haman's banquet—before his execution! If a
man were to be hanged—would you envy to see
him walk to the gallows through pleasant fields, or
to see him go up the ladder in expensive clothing?

"I will curse your blessings!" (Malachi 2:2) Whatever
a sinner enjoys—he has a curse with it! And shall we
envy him? Would we envy a dog—if poisoned food
was given to it!

PaulWest wrote:
This devotion brings to mind John eating the scroll in Revelation 10, and saying afterward that it was [i]"in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."[/i]

Yes, such is sin. You indulge for a season, you taste the sweetness in your mouth...but once the sweetness gets down to the belly, you ache. The pleasures of the wicked, the yachts and dinner parties and open promiscuity. The acorns and slop God gives the beasts. The revelries and endless pursuit of the dollar bill. Like cheap bubble gum, you get the blast of fruity flavor, but the sugar bleeds out quickly and you have to keep adding fresh pieces if you want the flavor to remain.

Finally, you're left with a huge wad of flavorless gum. Or flavorless [i]acorns[/i] as Watson would say. The expensive cars, the huge DVD collection, the boats, the houses, the fancy clothes, and all the other [i]things[/i] that once held a sweet flavor in the mouth, now tastless, a burden, and ready to be spit out.

Titus 1:15 Unto the pure ALL THINGS ARE PURE: but UNTO THEM THAT ARE DEFILED (legalists and hypocrits) and UNBELIEVING IS
[u][color=CC0000]nothing[/color][/u] PURE; but even their mind and CONSCIENCE is DEFILED.

PaulWest wrote:
This devotion brings to mind John eating the scroll in Revelation 10, and saying afterward that it was [i]"in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."[/i]

Yes, such is sin. You indulge for a season, you taste the sweetness in your mouth...but once the sweetness gets down to the belly, you ache. The pleasures of the wicked, the yachts and dinner parties and open promiscuity. The acorns and slop God gives the beasts. The revelries and endless pursuit of the dollar bill. Like cheap bubble gum, you get the blast of fruity flavor, but the sugar bleeds out quickly and you have to keep adding fresh pieces if you want the flavor to remain.

Finally, you're left with a huge wad of flavorless gum. Or flavorless [i]acorns[/i] as Watson would say. The expensive cars, the huge DVD collection, the boats, the houses, the fancy clothes, and all the other [i]things[/i] that once held a sweet flavor in the mouth, now tastless, a burden, and ready to be spit out.

Eccl. 2:24 There IS NOTHING BETTER for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, THAT IT WAS FROM THE HAND OF GOD.

PaulWest wrote:
This devotion brings to mind John eating the scroll in Revelation 10, and saying afterward that it was [i]"in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."[/i]

Yes, such is sin. You indulge for a season, you taste the sweetness in your mouth...but once the sweetness gets down to the belly, you ache. The pleasures of the wicked, the yachts and dinner parties and open promiscuity. The acorns and slop God gives the beasts. The revelries and endless pursuit of the dollar bill. Like cheap bubble gum, you get the blast of fruity flavor, but the sugar bleeds out quickly and you have to keep adding fresh pieces if you want the flavor to remain.

Finally, you're left with a huge wad of flavorless gum. Or flavorless [i]acorns[/i] as Watson would say. The expensive cars, the huge DVD collection, the boats, the houses, the fancy clothes, and all the other [i]things[/i] that once held a sweet flavor in the mouth, now tastless, a burden, and ready to be spit out.

Eccl. 5:18 Behold that which I have seen; it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and ENJOY the GOOD OF ALL HIS LABOUR that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which GOD GIVETH HIM: FOR IT HIS PORTION. 19. Every man also to whom God hath GIVEN RICHES AND WEALTH, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, AND REJOICE IN HIS LABOUR; THIS IS THE GIFT OF GOD.

PaulWest wrote:
Excellent insight, chiefofsinners...good catch, good association. I've never even considered these verses from Ecclesiastes...but they fit the topic at hand.

Very good! [i]"God gives riches and wealth"[/i][i]"It is [their] portion"[/i]

Just a guess. Am I right in thinking that you percieve this verse as being for the lost? If that were true than King Solomon himself would have been one of these, since he was one of the richest men that ever lived. This was the peak of the Davidic kingdom, there was more silver and gold than they knew what to do with.

I guess if I were to look at it like you I would see something different. Possible?

Hi Pauly,

Glad you asked. Well, seems like youve explained it all away. I just thought the verses meant what they said. Your post seemed to imply that any kind of worldly pleasures are beastly, and natural, and sinful, but the word of GOD says that these things come from GOD. It's of my humble opinion that all things GOOD come from GOD. I mean I would lot rather have Filet Mignon than a bowl of lumpy oatmeal, or a plate of rice. Not that I could'nt be content with the lump filled oats, and the tasteless rice. I mean anything tastes good when your hungry enough. Right? What are we supposed to do? Go sale all our possessions and live in a box out in the field and just get by on faith? That's contrary to scripture. I think we should work, and do the best job we can do at whatever we do, and try and make as much money as we can. We should be smart in our finances, and save money when we are able, and think about the future of our children. This is also biblical, and if you want me to I'll find the scriptures.

I've often found that the ones who point the most at other peoples possessions are just jealous and envyous of what other people have, and they don't have. Not saying this is you but from my experience this is often prevelant, especially in the church. People like to dig for things in the bible to try and hold over other peoples noses and make themselves feel better about what they don't have, but if we learn to be content this would never be a problem.

Matthew 19:22 esv
When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

"The fundamental difference between many of us and the rich young ruler is this: He believed what Jesus said was required of him to inherit eternal life and walked away sadly, while we don't believe what Jesus said was required of us to inherit life and walk away rejoicing in our self deception." -David Servant

[url=http://www.fleebabylon.com/audio/sheep_and_goats.mp3]Sheep and the Goats - David Servant - 30 minutes[/url]

In Christ - Jim

jimdied2sin wrote:
Matthew 19:22 esv
When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

"The fundamental difference between many of us and the rich young ruler is this: He believed what Jesus said was required of him to inherit eternal life and walked away sadly, while we don't believe what Jesus said was required of us to inherit life and walk away rejoicing in our self deception." -David Servant

[url=http://www.fleebabylon.com/audio/sheep_and_goats.mp3]Sheep and the Goats - David Servant - 30 minutes[/url]

In Christ - Jim

So what are you saying? Does that mean you think I'm a goat? Well, baaaaaaaaa. You can throw something someone else said at me and a message that youve probably never listened to, but you don't have the courage to tell me in your own words why you think I'm a goat. If your gonna accuse me of something at least have the guts to tell me in your own words why I'm wrong.