Why You're Chasing The Wrong Bag | Proverbs 8

We chased this bag until we had nothing left. 📉🛑

In active addiction, I spent every waking hour chasing "The Bag." I risked my freedom, my family, and my life for a little plastic baggie that always—always—ended up empty.

We thought we were chasing wealth. We were actually chasing death.

Welcome to Day 8 of "A Proverb A Day Keeps The Police Away." Today, in Proverbs Chapter 8, Solomon tells us we have been hustling for the wrong currency.

In this breakdown:

1️⃣ The Crossroads: Wisdom stands at the intersection where you make your daily decisions. Are you listening to her, or the dealer?

2️⃣ Real Wealth: Verse 10 says, "Prefer my life-disciplines to chasing after money." Money without discipline just funds a faster relapse.

3️⃣ The Mic Drop: Verse 36 says, "All who hate me love death." If you are rejecting recovery, you are actively flirting with your own funeral.

Stop chasing the bag that kills you. Start chasing the truth that saves you.

👇 Watch the full video below.

#SoberNotBoring #Recovery #TheBag #Proverbs8 #StreetSmarts #AddictionRecovery #RealTalk #Faith

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
In active addiction wewere obsessed with the bag.

(00:02):
We chased the money, the gold, andthe resources because we thought
that's what would make us feel okay.
We thought that our networth equaled our self-worth.
Welcome to day eight of a proverb a day.
Keeps the police away.
My name is Robert, and I'mglad to have you along today on
this journey through Proverbs.
Yesterday we watched the simpletonget destroyed by a cheap thrill.
Today in chapter eight, wisdom steps upto the mic, and she's telling us that

(00:26):
we've been chasing the wrong currency.
She says, if you want to be rich,like actually rich, you need to stop
chasing the bag of jewels or you know,this bag, and start chasing the truth.
Notice that wisdom isn'thiding in a cave somewhere.
Solomon says that she's standing rightwhere we make our daily decisions.
Let's jump into chapter eighthere, verses one through nine.

(00:48):
Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling?
Can you hear MadamInsight raising her voice?
She's taken her stand at first and Mainat the busiest intersection right in the
city square where the traffic is thickest.
She shouts you.
I'm talking to all of you,everyone out here on the streets.
Listen, you idiots learn good sense.

(01:10):
You blockheads shape up.
Don't miss a word of this.
I'm telling you how to live well.
I'm telling you how to live at your best.
My mouth chews and saversand relishes truth.
I can't stand the taste of evil.
You'll only hear true andright words from my mouth.
Not one syllable willbe twisted or skewed.

(01:33):
You'll recognize this is true.
You with open minds, truthReady Minds will see it at once.
She takes her stand at first InMaine, what that means in the message
version is basically the crossroads.
Every single day in recovery,you stand at a crossing.
Do I call my sponsor or do I isolate?
Do I tell the truth ordo I lie to save face?

(01:56):
Do I drive home or do I turn downa street or into a parking lot
that I know that I shouldn't be in?
Solomon says, wisdom is standingright there in the middle of that
intersection yelling, listen, I havesomething important to tell you.
Help is available.
The direction is there.
The question isn't, is God speaking?
The question is, are you listening?

(02:18):
Now let's talk about value.
We used to risk our freedomfor a few hundred bucks.
Solomon tells us to reevaluatewhat we think is expensive.
Prefer my life Disciplines over chasingafter money and God knowledge over a
lucrative career for wisdom is betterthan all the trappings of wealth.
Nothing you could wishfor holds a candle to her.

(02:39):
I am Lady Wisdom and I live nextto sanity, knowledge and discretion
live just down the street.
The fear of God means hating evil whoseways I hate with a passion, pride and
arrogance and crooked talk, good counseland common sense are my characteristics.
I am both insight and the virtue tolive it out with my help leaders'

(03:04):
rule and lawmakers legislate fairlywith my help governors govern, along
with all in legitimate authority.
I love those who love me,those who look for me, find me.
Wealth and glory accompany me, andalso substantial honor and a good name.
My benefits are worth more than abig salary, even a very big salary.

(03:28):
The returns on me exceedany imaginable bonus.
You can find me on Righteous Road.
That's where I walk at the intersectionof Justice Avenue, handing out life
to those who love me, filling theirarms with life arm loads of life.
Man, that is a hard pill to swallow.
Prefer my life disciplinesto chasing after money.

(03:50):
Hmm.
In early recovery, we panic about money.
We wanna get the job back and get thecar back, get the bank account up.
But Solomon says here, stop.
If you get the money back, but youdon't have the discipline to keep
it, you'll just lose it again.
The wisdom is the foundation.
Money is just the decoration.

(04:11):
And notice what he adds right after that.
I hate pride and arrogance.
Why is that?
You think?
Well, pride is the thing thattells you I don't need help.
I can get rich on my own.
That's the ego that keepsus broken and broken.
Now the chapter ends with a binary choice.
There's no gray area here.

(04:31):
You're either building alife or you're dating death.
God Sovereignly made me the first andthe basic before he did anything else.
I was brought into being a long timeago, well before Earth got its start,
I arrived on the scene before Ocean.
Yes, even before Springs and riversand lakes before mountains were

(04:54):
sculpted and hills took shape.
I was already there newborn, long beforeGod stretched out Earth's horizons.
I tended to the minute details of soil andweather and set the sky firmly in place.
I was there When he mapped and gaveborders to wild ocean and built the
vast vault of heaven and installedthe fountains that fed Ocean, when

(05:18):
he drew a boundary for sea, posteda sign that said no trespassing, and
then staked out Earth's foundations.
I was right there with himmaking sure everything fit.
Day after day, I was there with my joyfulapplause, always enjoying his company.
Delighted with the world ofthings and creatures, and happily

(05:41):
celebrating the human family.
So my dear friends, listen carefully.
Those who embrace these,my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely.
Don't squander your precious life.
Blessed the man and blessed thewoman who listens to me, awake

(06:01):
and ready for me each morning.
Alert and responsive.
As I start my day's work.
When you find me, you find life, real lifeto say nothing of God's good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, youdamage your very soul.
When you reject me, you'reflirting with death.
Mic drop moment right there.

(06:21):
When you reject me, youare flirting with death.
You know, we like tosay, I don't hate wisdom.
I just like to party.
Solomon says, no, if you rejectthe truth, you are actively in
love with your own destruction.
Recovery is a life or death proposition.
Verse 34 says, we need to be awakeand ready for me each morning.

(06:44):
That's your morning routine.
That's your prayer, that's yourmeditation, your daily readings.
If you aren't waking uplooking for wisdom, you're
waking up vulnerable to death.
So the takeaways from chapter eightto keep the police outta your life are
this number one, check the crossroadsat every decision point today.
Pause.

(07:05):
Listen.
Wisdom is usually yellingout some directions.
Number two, value theright bag, not this one.
Don't chase money.
Chase the discipline.
The money will follow the character.
And number three, don't date death.
Wake up every morning ready for wisdom.
It's the only way to stay alive.

(07:27):
I'll see you tomorrow for day nine.
We're gonna be talking about theinvitation and the difference
between a feast and a funeral.
And listen, a free way to supportthis podcast and show the platform
that this is good content isto subscribe to our channel.
Comment your thoughts below,and maybe drop a gem emoji if
you're chasing real value today.
And share this with a friend who mightneed a little encouragement in their life.

(07:49):
Send in love and all thegood vibes your way today.
Stay sober, not boring.