Proverbs 24:13 - Meaning and Application

We are encouraged to seek wisdom by thinking about both its pleasure and its profit. It will be very pleasant. We eat honey because it tastes sweet, and especially the first, fresh flow from the honeycomb. Canaan was described as a land flowing with milk and honey, and honey was common food there, even for children (Luke 24:41-42; Isaiah 7:15). In the same way, we should feed on wisdom and enjoy its good teaching.

Those who have tasted honey do not need further proof that it is sweet, and no argument can convince them otherwise. In the same way, those who have experienced the power of truth and godliness are fully satisfied that both are delightful. They have tasted their sweetness, and the objections of atheists with their clever arguments, or the mocking of the ungodly, cannot change that.

Wisdom is also very profitable. Honey may taste sweet and still not be healthy, but wisdom has a future reward as well as present sweetness. You may be allowed to eat honey, and its taste invites you to enjoy it. But you have much stronger reason to take in the teaching of wisdom, because when you find it, there will be a reward. You will be paid for your pleasure, while servants of sin pay dearly for what they do.

Wisdom does require work, but it also brings a reward. It raises great hopes, but those hopes will not fail. Your labor will not be wasted, and your expectation will not be cut off (Proverbs 23:18). In fact, the reward will be far greater than you expected.