A Mouth Full of Gravel

(Proverbs 20:17 KJV)  Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

I have no trouble with this for a good person sucked into a situation, but I wonder how it can be true of all.  Remember there are verses that indicate that some people love evil.  It works as a general principle if we assume that the saturated evil person is in a real minority.  They exist but not in large numbers.

Proverbs 4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make {someone} stumble.

That is not good enough.  Both statements are scriptural.  Both must be true.  So our understanding and application must take both into account.

This leads me to an understanding of the evil mind.  Yes, there are people who get great pleasure out of creating evil.  What we need to understand is that even though they will not admit it, they know it is evil and know they are wrong.  There is a deeply anchored awareness and dissatisfaction in their hearts that life is nothing but “gravel” (2687) to them.  I repeat, they will never admit it.  That does not mean it is false.

So?  Don’t get envious of those you think are living the high life.  Sure it looks good but when no one is looking they admit to themselves that their lives are full of putrid, rotten memories.  They deserve your pity, not your envy.  Pray that the love of God being lived out in your life will make a difference in them today.