Food

Food

Do you like honey? Don’t eat too much of it, or it will make you sick!

Proverbs 25:16

My mom used to drizzle honey over hot biscuits she baked for us on cold winter mornings. I add honey to hot cooked carrots to sweeten the taste. (Hint: use equal parts honey and butter.) Perhaps you use it as a substitute for sugar in some of your own recipes. Simply put, honey sweetens things. But too much of it isn’t a good thing. Just ask Winnie the Pooh about that! When moms across the country read Winnie the Pooh stories out loud, recounting Pooh’s eating a whole pot of honey and promptly getting stuck in a doorway, even children get the idea that although honey is good, too much honey is not.

The Bible uses honey to teach us about perspective and moderation, not just in regard to food. We need healthy perspective for all of life. Proverbs 25:17 speaks to moderation in friendships: “Don’t visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your welcome.” Later in the same chapter, verse 27 warns, “Just as it is not good to eat too much honey, it is not good for people to think about all the honors they deserve.” To be respected is a good thing, but to go running after recognition is not.

In Proverbs 24:13-14, a wise father encourages his son to enjoy honey, which is sweet to the taste, but even more, to enjoy wisdom, which is sweet to the soul. Honey brings instant delight, but wisdom brings lasting hope!

Father,

May we be wise and look for healthy perspective and balance in all of life. Amen.