I remember as a kid growing up in Marietta, GA eating honeycomb harvested by local beekeepers. Man is it sweet and so good! Honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honeybees for multiple purposes. One of these is to become stores of honey. Today it is difficult finding honeycomb. Kids are missing a treat.
God treats us with His “honeycomb” in Proverbs 16:24, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” The sweet words of grace are His honeycomb and are healing to our whole being (spirit, mind, emotion, will, and body). Our world is starving for graceful, meaning full-of-grace, words. Today, we are bombarded with words of judgment, humiliation, condemnation, ridiculous levels of expectation, vulgarity, lustfulness, selfishness, bitterness, hurt, narcissism, criticism, etc. As a result, our world is full of churn tearing each other down rather than building up one another. Christians, do you want to know how to change this world? Share the sweet words of His loving grace and meditate on the Bible night and day which is full of His graceful, sweet-to-the-soul words.
There is a beautiful picture of sweetness in Psalms 55:13-14, “It is you, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.” Walking among believers in “sweet fellowship” is honeycomb to our souls. So, this begs a question. Are you experiencing Christian community, one of another koinonia fellowship? Until you do, you will be missing the “sweet” edification of God from others whose words build you up.
Further insight that highlights the difference between the hurtfulness of the world and the sweetness of Godly, wise words from friends is found in Proverbs 15:1&2, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.”
Do you want a life full of “sweet dreams”, safety, without fear or worry? Proverb 3:21-26 instructs how, “My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.” Wisdom and understanding that preserve sound judgment and discretion, discovered in His Word and from Godly friendships and fellowship, will result into sweet dreams. You feel settled within your soul.
So many of us are caught up in the constant disorder and friction of this world. Chew on the sweet “honeycomb” of “gracious words”.
Barnabas Man 