Proverbs 20:17: Stolen Bread

“Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,

but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.” Proverbs 20:17

Has your Mom ever made homemade bread? I know my mom has, and it's always the best part of dinner when she makes it. Put a little butter on there and BAM! You have a delightful side dish to your main course. Surely the tastes of great bread are delightful to us. However, what about the taste of gravel? Yeah, those grey rocks that sit on the side of the highway? Wouldn't you love to have that for dinner? No? Why not?

This morning in Proverbs we see a fine comparison between bread and gravel. Now, the bread we are talking about in Proverbs wasn't homemade, but it was stolen, that is, "gained by deceit." What the writer of this proverb (Solomon) is trying to say here is that all stolen bread is, in fact, sweet--or at least it starts out that way. In other words, no one ever said that sin wasn't fun. If sin wasn't fun, then we wouldn't be tempted to do it. But the reality of it all is this: is that sin is fun, and it is filled with pleasure, but those pleasures are fleeting.

Solomon makes his point extremely clear here: although stolen bread (that is, the things that we get when we sin) is in fact sweet, it is only sweet temporarily. Soon, the sweetness of that bread will lead to a mouth full of gravel. Now, continue to imagine with me for a second a mouth full of gravel. Seriously, imagine pulling over on the freeway, grabbing a spoon, and chowing down on some rocks. Gross! Yet each and every day, when we choose to sin, this is exactly what we are asking for.

R.C. Sproul in his book The Holiness of God talked about something like this. In the following quote, he compared sin's pleasure with happiness:

"A big problem I had in my youth was that I did not quite understand the difference between happiness and pleasure. . . .I have committed many sins in my life. Not one of my sins has ever made me happy. . . .But my sins have brought me pleasure. I like pleasure. I am still very much attracted to pleasure. Pleasure can be great fun. And not all pleasures are sins. There is much pleasure to be found in righteousness. But the difference is still there. Sin can be pleasurable but it never brings happiness. Now if I understand this, why would I ever be tempted to sin? It seems utterly stupid for a person to do something that he knows will rob him of his happiness. Yet we do it. The mystery of sin is not only that it is wicked and destructive but that it is so downright stupid."

Do you get Sproul's point? In short, sin does bring pleasure, but it does not bring happiness. In other words, sin has the capacity to temporarily satisfy, but it will never eternally satisfy. True satisfaction can only be found in following Jesus and his teaching. If you desire to eat stolen bread or any other fruit of your sin, it will be sweet, I can promise you that. But that sweetness will soon turn into the taste of gravel, and you will regret that which you have just chosen. So, choose wisely today, lest you be a fool, chowing down on gravel on the side of the road.