Stolen water is sweet; bread eaten is secret is delicious!
That’s what the ancient proverbs writer said, and it still rings true today. We humans love the illicit and the forbidden. Why is this?
Why is forbidden fruit so tempting? Why do we crave the things that aren’t healthy for us? Why do we want what we probably shouldn’t have? The answer is … we actually don’t. We don’t want the illicit; we don’t want the counterfeit — we actually DO want the authentic and the good.
The problem is that goodness usually requires some up-front payment, whereas the illicit doesn’t charge us until a little later on — it’s like a quick and easy credit card transaction that satisfies today but makes us pay tomorrow. Goodness and beauty make us work for it on the front end, and if we aren’t willing to pay that price we’ll turn to lesser substitutes that can hurt us on the back end.
King David understood this. Throughout his life he walked both paths: the illicit and legitimate, and his conclusion was clear. True satisfaction (the kind that lets you sleep at night and brings life to your soul) only comes from what is good. In fact David said that when our desires touch God’s goodness it’s so satisfying that it’s almost like we start aging in reverse. He said that God “satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles” (Psalm 103:5).
Jesus agreed with David. He said the Kingdom of God — the reality of the goodness of life in God — was like treasure buried in a field. It was costly to find it, but once found, it was worth every cent of payment.
Chris Jackson is a pastor in San Dimas, in Southern California
