EVERY BITTER THING IS SWEET

In Proverbs 27:7we read “The full soul loatheth an honey comb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet”.
Many things in the Bible are sweet as honey because it is written by a God of infinite love and mercy. But, because it is written to a fallen race with a constant tendency to sin, there are many warnings of judgment. These are the bitter things.
There is a picture of this in Ezekiel 2:7-3:7. Also in Revelation 10 John is told to eat such a book. It was sweet as honey in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach.
This all seems quite theoretical but a great of harm is being done because the Word is being used for secondary purposes. The church today is enjoying the honey but wishes to skip the bitterness. A few decades ago someone pointed out to me the proliferation of seminars and books on marriage. This was all based on Scripture but it resulted in an increase in divorces. While in South Africa a man by the name of Andy Demos told me that his son who was a minister of a church there spent most of his time counseling the people. Andy felt that if his son would just preach on the judgments of God as well as His mercy he would not have to spend so much time counseling.
I believe this is what Paul is talking about in II Corinthians 4:2 where he writes about “handling the Word of God deceitfully”. The Bible is given to us for the purpose of bringing to God a redeemed race, redeemed from the penalty of sin and victorious over it’s power. “That I might know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings”: Philippians 3:10.
The purpose of God’s redemptive plan is a called out people saved to fellowship with Him for eternity. There will be many blessings in this life for those who follow the Lamb and obey His Word and His Words. These blessings will not only be spiritual but also material, emotional and physical. But if we use the Scriptures to gain these things we will do more harm than good. We will lose the central message and the Word will have no power in our lives. We will gain the blessings of this life only if we live for the life to come. We will gain happiness only if we strive for holiness; if we will take the bitter with the sweet.