By David ReayThursday 11 Mar 2021LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 1 minute
Better a dry crust eaten in peace
than a house filled with feasting—and conflict. (NLT)
Behind the lavish facades of stylish houses there can be pain and loneliness. No shortage of money, no lack of what we might call worldly success. But perhaps a lack of true closeness, frozen relationships, deep anxieties about how to hold on to what is already possessed.
There is plenty to eat and plenty to keep all entertained. But being entertained is not the same as deep pleasure. Having lots to eat does not mean our deepest appetites are satisfied.
Perhaps this is what our text today is talking about. All the money in the world, all the best education that money can buy cannot guarantee family harmony. All the ‘getting to the top of the greasy pole’, all the cosmetic surgery available at a price, can’t bring meaning to life. So we need to be careful if we find ourselves envying those who seem to have everything. In fact, they may have very little.
Of course, we love a feast and the thought of a dry crust is not appealing. But the writer is using exaggeration to make his point. Sometimes the simple and apparently poorer life can be more “peaceful”. This is not to glorify poverty or condemn wealth. It simply recognizes that real life satisfaction comes not from what we possess but from what or who possesses us.
Blessings
David