Proverb 1:31

“therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.”

You get what you pay for, in other words. Again, the text can come acrossed as harsh and unloving. But when we see the reality of it played out in our own lives, we realize that its purely lovely. 

When we walk in our own will and way, we do eat the fruit of that path. Just like the fruit in the garden, it’s exactly the thing that so entices us that becomes the demise of us. We are lured by our own seductions, as Eve was to knowledge and Wisdom that was not hers to claim. Not the knowledge we’re told to seek after in chapter one. This is knowledge and wisdoms with satan’s twisted spin.

When we’re on a wayward path and our appetite sets in, what is there to eat but the fruit of that path?

These admonitions are shared in Proverbs so that we may bypass the demise of ourselves. That we might choose life over death and seek Wisdom in all that we do.

It’s a loving heads-up to remind us of what’s coming when we heed our own call above God’s. It’s like a whisper that questions, “do you reallly want to satisfy that seductive desire? Remember, it turns to sin and sin brings forth death. Just think about it.”

And we have time to think about it. But usually we don’t take advantage of that time. We make split-second decisions coated in a thick layer of lust. We think of nothing other than to fill our ravenous appetites. 

And when we choose to do so, Proverbs promises that we will get our fill of that thing we so desired to begin with. Like a starving person who over-indulges when they finally get their hands on some food; we treat sin the same way. It’s appetizing and we devour it when we set our mind to self. The consequence is similar. When we overeat, we feel like regurgitating. It upsets the stomach. But wecan’t undo our actions. That’s why Proverbs spells out the consequences of our actions—in love.