Too Much
Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, that you not have it in excess and vomit it. Proverbs 25:16
Only – What a strange proverb! How does a comment about finding honey have anything to do with seeing the world from God’s point of view? With a little exploration, we may find that there is a lot more to this verse than just a comment on conservative diet decisions.
First, we need to know that this honey is accidentally discovered. You were not looking for it. You just ran across it. In other words, you were the recipient of a serendipitous event. If you believe that God engineers life so that there are literally no accidents, then you will recognize that, while you had nothing to do with the “luck” of finding this treasure, God did. He arranged your day so that you would run across this opportunity. Of course, that concept applies to a lot more than wild honey. Any fortuitous discovery, any “lucky” occurrence can be seen as wild honey. God provided it. Now the question is, “What will you do about it?”
Solomon says, “Eat only what you need.” The word is added from the context. There is no Hebrew word “only” in this verse. It is literally “eat your fill” (khol da.ye.ka). The rest of the verse makes it apparent that eating my fill does not mean taking more than I can use. In other words, I am not the one who provided this treasure; therefore, I must recognize the stewardship that is implicit in this discovery. Life is not about me alone.
Now think about the opportunities that come your way. If you don’t share God’s point of view on these lucky occasions, you will be tempted to gather it all into your storehouse. You will play by the world’s rule: finders keepers. You will operate on a zero-sum basis: that there is only so much to go around and if I don’t take all I can get, someone else will. In other words, you will forget that this treasure was a gift and start acting as though it belongs entirely to you.
Solomon has some good advice. Take what you need; leave the rest. Trying to consume it all will make you sick. Just like the children of Israel learned, manna can’t be stored for a rainy day. God provides some amazing, unexpected gifts along the way. They can be occasions for stewardship. They can become the means for you to consider the anonymous next person. You can leave what you don’t require. You can demonstrate your trust that God will continue to provide, even when you don’t take it all right now. Or, you can ignore God’s point of view and try to eat the whole thing.
Just don’t be surprised if you throw up afterwards.
