https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/06/a-hole-in-the-wall
It’s mooncake season now in Malaysia and as it comes once a year, I tended to eat too much at one go. Mooncakes are getting more and more expensive these days. So fortunately some places make them smaller at the same price. Fortunately, because then I will be eating less! I had just finished one whole piece yesterday night and then was relieved that it was a smaller one! ☺️
Proverbs 25:16 advises that if we find honey, eat just enough or else we will vomit. Anything that is nice and rich, we must exercise self control and eat in moderation. That is why Proverbs 25:28 teaches like a city whose wall is broken through, so is a person who lacks self control. It reminds me of the many movie stories of people finding treasure and dying with it. Like a cave full of gold and instead of just taking a bar and run before the cave closes, most will want to cart a whole case. But the point is a bar of gold alive is better than a cart of gold dead!
There is wisdom in the Proverbs because it is based on observations on human nature over time but most importantly it is the Word of God. Surely as wise as Solomon is, God is wiser. There is thus no need to always take the maximum. In negotiations, if we only go for the maximum, it is unlikely to be win-win. It is much better to cut a deal for ourselves with the other side thinking that we were dumb and had left too much on the table than have the deal deadlocked for months. Robert Kuok was willing to fund an entire venture, and own and take less than half of the profits because that was the only way to do that business in that country. The major shareholder of my former company once remarked to me in person that for some ventures we must never go in alone but as a consortium.
I think it is wise to always exercise self control and be contented. We get some of the pie, that’s good enough. No need to get all of the pie. Like a small hole in the wall that will compromise the entire city during ancient times, greed and always wanting the most will one day destroy us. Greed has caused many to risk the whole barn and lost! Cultivate self control and contentment and we will go far in life as God will see our heart and honour us as we honour Him in our lives.
Ronnie's Thoughts 