Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.
Proverbs 24:13-14
I love warm crumpets with butter and honey! Such a simple breakfast pleasure helps start a day off well. Honey (and crumpets!) bring health, energy and joy.
The simple analogy of this proverb is that like honey, there is life-giving sweetness to be found in the wisdom of God’s word. But unlike honey, we cannot have too much of God’s wisdom! And not only does it set us up for the day, God’s wisdom sets us up even beyond this life.
So, how is your appetite – not for honey, but for wisdom from God?
If you haven’t developed the taste, each day just read a bit of the Bible – even a little – so that over time you come to love it for yourself. And in doing so, you will have joy and hope that sustains you not just for one day, but eternally. Your life and wisdom will be in God, who is the world’s only secure hope.
Growing deeper in the scriptures is not just about reading, but holding it in our mind as you would savour honey on your tongue. In doing so we can ponder on its meaning for us today and personalise it. Through that we are changed and enlivened for God. What a sweet gift God has given us in the Bible!
– Sam Pursell