- Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything. -
This is a strange verse to find in your Bible. Typically, we look for moral teachings, especially in the wisdom literature.
Why are we getting these lessons about wine and money? Are we not supposed to lean on God rather than our own resources?
First, let’s just examine the veracity of these claims.
Is bread made for laughter? Undoubtedly, it brings joy to any feast. I’ve never looked at a piece of bread though and laughed.
Bread though isn’t made just for giggles. It’s made for sustenance. It keeps you going and growing and alive. If we baked bread and just laughed at it, we would be considered deranged.
It is worthless unless you eat it.
Wine can indeed gladden life. But, it does more. It leads to an ungoverned mind, the result of which leads to scandals that can ruin reputations and livelihoods.
Even recently we have discovered how the lie a little bit of wine is good for you was nothing but a bad study paid for by the wine industry itself!
Does alcohol make life better? No. It dulls our senses to pain and consequence. That makes life seem better without changing any of its circumstances.
There is nothing more frightening than to experience an emergency. There is nothing more demoralizing to wonder how you will pay for the operation while waiting for the family member to recover.
It is good to have money. It makes many of life’s problems that could arise for your family simply disappear.
But, it doesn’t answer everything. You cannot bring a family member back to life. You cannot pay enough to get back the words you have already spoken in anger.
Even while you’re terrified in the waiting room, counting up the bills, you’re still grateful that your family gets to go home together still complete.
You wouldn’t trade that for the world, nor could you.
So then, we have three statements here that are not precisely untrue, but are definitely not the whole picture. They show an aspect that is undoubtedly true and good to know, yet they are incomplete.
What then are we supposed to take away?
Who says money fixes all your problems? It’s the man who believes it to be true. Same for the man who says alcohol makes him happy and how much he loves to eat.
We know or have been around people like this. If you ask, they won’t agree with their own words. They will point out the nuances we have already discussed.
But, they won’t offer them up freely. They need to feel judged before they can speak to them. In fact, they say these partial truths knowing them to be partial truths to have others say them to them.
By doing so, they create a culture of casting a blind eye to the parts of our pleasures or pursuits we do not wish to acknowledge so we can enjoy their benefits.
If we say there are no negative consequences, are there?
Wisdom can see the world with both. It knows money is useful, but not entirely. That bread is not to be wasted, and that wine makes you feel good with consequences.
Beware of those who see only a truth and not the whole truth.
Let wisdom be your guide.
Ecclesiastes 10:19