Is the Forbidden the Best? : One Year Bible Reading for February 16

 Today we read from the One Year Bible in the following passages:

Leviticus 1:1-3:17
Mark 1:29-2:12
Psalm 35:17-28
Proverbs 9:13-18

And let's look at the verse from Proverbs. The writer tells us that Foolishness is enticing us to eat forbidden fruit. The picture above is called "Stolen Kiss". And while the Proverbs writer makes it very clear that stolen things are NOT in fact better than legitimate ones, that goes against our culture today. You've probably heard people say that making something forbidden just makes people want it more. That stolen fruit tastes twice as sweet.

And there is truth to that! You probably WILL enjoy the stolen kiss or the forbidden fruit while you're experiencing it. But the last part of the Proverb then comes to find you. "Her guests are deep in the realm of the dead." Your forbidden fruit will sour on you.

But the fruit and the kiss that comes to us with God's blessing doesn't go sour. It only gets sweeter. It grows better and better each year, becoming something more wonderful than we can imagine. So invest in good fruit, not in forbidden. You'll be glad you did.

God, thanks for teaching us to avoid forbidden fruit.