If you find honey, 

eat only what you need; otherwise, 

you'll get sick from it and vomit. 

Seldom set foot in your neighbors house; otherwise, 

he'll get sick of you and hate you.

Proverbs 25:16-17 CSB

Here's the flip side to the too much honey coin, it's "annoying the neighbors". 

As I've sat with this proverb this morning, I wonder if it can be used to put barriers between us. The way the culture I live in is organised I hardly ever see my neighbor. 

When we lived in PNG there were no fences between houses and they were all on the same property. In the village some houses were arms length away, some had no doors. 

I don't think this Proverb is trying to get us to examine our culture...but our hearts. The first part is about not consuming something good that in excess will cause harm or be wasted, encouraging us to control our wants. 

The second part is when we can't see the impact of our choices on others. My heart is blinded to my neighbors needs, to what is going on for them. If I never check in with them, just expect, just take, then I'm not being a neighbor. 

There's times when we need to lean in to others, sometimes for a long time, and that's OK.

Jesus told us to love God, and to love people, to be generous and open hearted, open handed, Paul used the analogy of the One Body which we're all part of, so we're not going to leave one part out. Proverbs just quietly asks us to keep checking our hearts along the way...

#proverbs

#wisdom

#somethingtochewon