Walking with the Wise #464: Proper Order

"If you find honey, eat only what you need;

otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.”

—Proverbs 25:16 (HCSB)

God has made us with a propensity for pleasure, and that is a good thing, but if we pursue too much of a good thing it will make us sick. Today’s passage refers to finding honey, which to the Jewish mind was characteristic of the good life (e.g., Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5, 33:3) and pleasure (e.g., Judges 14:8; 1 Samuel 14:27). The proverb admonishes us to eat only what we need—which means being satisfied with small amounts of pleasure or good things. Too much pleasure or having too much of a good thing will inevitably make us sick. Eating a little honey is good, but eating honey over and over again, without balancing it with protein, fruits, and vegetables, will certainly make us ill.

Our pleasures, like everything else, have been distorted by the Fall, and without being put in their proper place will lead to pain and frustration. Our responsibility is not to deny all of our pleasures, but to make sure that they are being enjoyed in the proper way that God intended.

Secondly, we must make sure that our pleasures are balanced by our responsibilities. Pursuing pleasure apart from responsibility is disastrous. There is a time when pleasure is good and natural, but when pleasure trumps responsibility (like watching a show or playing a game rather than taking care of and providing for one’s children) then it’s bad.

Lastly, realize that our pleasures will never be filled entirely, but are meant to point to the ultimate pleasure that is to be found in eternity with God. As C.S. Lewis wrote,

"The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.' A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only... to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to the other country and to help others do the same."[1]

Pursue pleasure in the risen Christ, enjoy the earthly pleasures that ultimately point to Him, and let them be enjoyed in their own turn, subjected to the responsibilities of life to which God has called us. Amen.

[1]C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Bk. III, chap. 10, "Hope.”