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“Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.” Proverbs 20:17 NLT
 
Once again this week’s Proverb teaches us about cause and effect. Gratification can either be satisfying or fleeting. 
 
I love the trend that has been going on for the past few years. I first heard in mentioned on a radio station in San Diego in early 2000. It was about paying it forward. They put out the challenge to pay for someone behind you in a drive through line. Paying for someone you didn’t know and had no way to repay you. In a sense, buying bread and giving it away. The gratification was indeed satisfying. Generous intentions result in satisfying rewards. 
 
This week’s Proverb says that stolen bread may taste sweet at first but that kind of gratification is fleeting. Now  I am guessing that most of you who are reading this devotion probably do not wrestle with the temptation to steal bread. But in our day there  may be other temptations. You received too much change, the wrong package was delivered to your doorstep, you begin to get channels that you aren’t paying for. There might be  a certain temporary satisfaction that comes from gaining something that you did not pay for, but “the stolen bread will turn to gravel in your mouth”.  Selfish intentions result in unpleasant consequences. 
 
Nurturing a generous heart will be satiating, but a selfish heart will never be satisfied. 
 
This week, “pay it forward” and be reminded that selfishness does not produce rewards, but rather consequences. 
 
In His Hands, 
 
John