Classic KJV - Proverbs 25:16

Whenever we get a big windfall, that’s when we desperately need to limit consumption, lest our splurging makes us sick.

In the past, sugar was unknown, and honey was a rare luxury. Finding an oozing honeycomb was a real treat. Sometimes in life we get lucky. Imagine stumbling on a priceless gem or winning the lottery. Why not indulge, especially when it’s unexpected and free? If we’re at a party with acres of hors d’oeuvres, or attending a potluck with mountains of dishes, are we tempted to pig out? Alas, self-indulgence is easy, but unprogrammed self-control is almost impossible. Yet the need for real restraint may come suddenly and unexpectedly.

OK to Enjoy

This proverb does not forbid eating honey, like some stoic philosopher, as if all pleasures are wrong. It means, “Enjoy, but don’t overdo it and hurt yourself by over-indulgence.” We must be careful. We can have too much of a good thing. The stomach gives only momentary pleasure, and it’s certainly no path to happiness. Human beings are not just our appetites, and excessive consumption brings trouble, regret, and waste. It causes more harm than good.

Eat or Store?

Honey is sweet, delicious, and healthy (when moderately consumed), but rare to find. So, in a land “flowing with milk and honey,” over-consumption is easy. Honey doesn’t spoil; it can be kept for many years without refrigeration. But we don’t have bulging cheeks, like hamsters. People can’t eat and save food at the same time! As the saying goes, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.” So, let’s consider the text broadly.

Just before Vomiting—How much is “Excess?”

In discussing this text with our 19-year-old son, he thought it told us gorge ourselves, but just short of vomiting. No surprise: Young men inhale food. But no! That’s not the message. Eat to meet your real need. Each of us has a range of tolerance, like a margin between “enough” and “too much.” This text advises us not to push toleration to the limit. When the text says vomit, it’s referring to any excess consumption, and anything causing indigestion, discomfort, or lethargy. Excess consumption is really a form of gluttony, producing self-induced poverty.

Optimum not Maximum Consumption

We need to consume the optimum amount. That’s not natural; it’s learned. In the economically-privileged and devloped world, this usually means taking less instead of more, erring on the side of too little rather than too much. Our consumer society encourages gorging to the point that our consumables interfere with our living. It’s not a question of how much should I overeat before I vomit, it’s how much is enough?

From Rags to Riches

Winning the lottery is often the first thing people imagine when they think about “winning big.” It’s tempting to splurge, because there’s so much, and it seems inexhaustible. Giving into this temptation is an almost universal catastrophe, and many winners attest to the “curse” of winnings. Splurging so quickly often leaves them with less than they started with, and it disrupts so much of their lives. Marriage break-ups, spoiled kids, jealous and greedy relatives, an infestation of scammers, and unwanted media attention are just a few harmful side effects of a Big Win.

Journalist Joseph Brean paints the typical portrait in his “Big win ‘lottery curse’ begets another riches-to-rags tale,” by Joseph Brean (August 10, 2016).

Money also changes people’s outlook on those close to them, according to H. Roy Kaplan, a sociologist at the University of South Florida, who has surveyed hundreds of winners. He found that people who are already introverted tend to become more anxious and suspicious after they win.

He found Americans tended to move house immediately to areas of established privilege, whereas Canadians tended to renovate. Nearly 80 per cent of winners from both countries quit their jobs, often to their regret, and many who kept working were alienated from co-workers, as if they no longer needed or deserved to be working.

...

Edward Ugel, author of Money for Nothing: One Man’s Journey Through The Dark Side of Lottery Millions, has said that, of the thousands of winners he interviewed, a few were happy, “but you would be blown away to see how many winners wish they’d never won.”

You can read the full article here.

The story of Jack Whittaker is one of the best examples of a lottery winner turned loser.

Upon winning $314 million in a 2002 lottery, a happy business owner (Mr. Jack Whittaker) expressed noble desire. He wanted to start a charitable foundation, put laid-off workers back on the job, and do nice things for his family. Already wealthy, he told reporter the big win wouldn't change him. A few years later, a follow-up article described a different outcome. Since winning the biggest of all lotteries, the man had run into legal problems, lost his personal reputation, and gambled away all of his money.¹

Look up the Key Word “Lottery” to read more about this topic.

Enjoy it NOW

The lure to immediate gratification and excess consumption is amplified when one or more of the following conditions prevail:

• The unexpected abundance comes during a time of scarcity.
• The winner has no clear long-term goals, or lacks a strong commitment to them.
• Sudden, easy credit snow-balls into unsustainable debt.

The Savings Alternative

When stored in clean, dry containers, honey keeps incredibly well. Honey found in the Egyptian pyramids was still edible after 3,000 years. The point is this: If we find honey, get a windfall, strike it rich, win the big one, hit the jackpot, find gold, or some other surplus, we MUST NOT GO WILD. We must re-channel the surplus toward a positive goal, especially if a delay is involved. We need to slow down. The proverb advises us not to over-consume. It does not tell us to ignore the extra honey. We can and likely should collect all the honey we’ve found—just don’t eat too much too quickly. Proverbs 21:20 praises those who show self-control and store excess, rather than consume it.

Need or Greed

The expression “only take what you need” is easier said than done. Need soon becomes greed—especially when something is found rather than earned. People don’t usually just stumble upon honeycombs just lying around, but every now and then they come across a big sum of money (e.g. an inheritance, legal settlement, or lottery wins). Free, non-taxable money is a big win indeed, and it easily awakens the bloated giant, greed. Greed is like a black hole—never filled and hard to escape. Need, on the other hand, is finite with defineable limits, and staying within those limits preserves our freedom.

Where do we find the power to resist that tug to spend, guzzle, and devour? It’s even worse when we knowingly do the wrong thing. We need an external power; a power beyond ourselves. It’s not in-born, at least not from our first birth. Read on about a second birth.

Our Maker, Saviour, and Friend

Jesus warned us that greed or self-indulgence is a kind of slavery (Luke 12:15). Greed does not stimulate our families or professions, but poisons them. Greed is not life-giving, but life-taking.

Opposing greed, Jesus promised to reward careful consumption. “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?” (Emphasis added, Luke 12:42). Their “rations” speaks of proper quantities, and “proper time” speaks of orydebt foresight. Jesus empowers moderate consumption. Imagine MODERATE CONSUMPTION. A miracle!

It takes supernatural power. It’s a new life not a new leaf, but a new life (John 3:3-17). This new birth comes from above, from the spirit of God. This real freedom is the greatest earthly benefit of a Spirit-filled life (Galatians 5:22-23).

1. Our Daily Bread, Mark DeHaan, November 15, 2014. RBC Ministries