Year 8, Day 316: Proverbs 25

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I think the main point of today’s chapter is self-control.  Verse 16 leapt out at me today.  “If you find honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit.”  How true is it that human beings tend to binge on things that they like until they can’t stand them anymore?  Haven’t we all had the experience of eating too much to the point of being sick?  Haven’t we all had the experience of being obsessed with something and then by the same time next year we don’t even care about it?  This is the point of the Proverb.  Moderation is a key to happiness, not gluttony.

Another way of looking at this is verse 17.  “Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.”  This is the same kind of thought.  People need space.  We are communal beings, but too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing.  It is good for neighbors to get along, but it is not good for neighbors to be so close that a feud breaks out.

I think this idea is one of the most easily misunderstood elements of marriage.  When two people get married, they decide to spend the rest of their life together.  People think that often means spending ever moment of their marriage together.  I don’t agree with that.  My wife and I do spent a good amount of time together.  But when we are together, we aren’t always talking.  Sometimes we are in the same room for hours and we don’t say a word to each other; we just enjoy each other’s presence.  Sometimes we are in the same house but in different rooms.  My point is that even in marriage some of the healthiest choices are for us to not have too much of a good thing.  My wife is my best friend, for sure; but I respect and honor our mutual need for space.

This chapter ends by telling us that a person without self-control is like a city without walls.  When we don’t have self-control, our joys and passions are always being stolen and fading away.  When we don’t have self-control, we are taken advantage of by others.  When we don’t have self-control, we can actually give too much of ourselves and drive others away.  Self-control is a significant part of being the person God desires us to be.

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