Proverbs 9:17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”
Our world abounds with lies. One of the lies I am hearing repeated lately is this: Free stuff is free!. We hear it from marketing specialists in an effort to get you hooked on their product. We hear it from politicians who eagerly hand out money and benefits in en effort to buy your vote. We even hear it is some churches when they present only the love side of the equation without discussing obedience, self-sacrifice, the way of the Cross.
Somebody must pay for all that free stuff. We hear this even in Christian circles. Sometimes we consider grace free. But nothing could be further from the truth. Grace cost Jesus everything, even His life.
The book of Proverbs is really a book about contrasts, mainly the contrast between wisdom and folly. Wisdom is life in line with our design. It encompasses obedience to the revelation we have received from the LORD in His Word and the wisdom of His people who have lived the life of conformity to His will.
Folly is self directed life. It is the life that is typified by people who reject both the wisdom of the Scriptures and the wisdom of those who have come before us. Folly aims at exalting the self and pushing for individualistic paths in life.
In our text for today we hear the words of folly personified. It is as if folly has become a person a begins to speak. And what she says fits perfectly with our world right now. Go for the ends. If you want it, seize it. You deserve better, even if you haven’t earned it. It promises big, but is short on longterm results.
Notice that the imagery is of food. It is something we can all relate to. With so many restaurants struggling to survive because of the pandemic, the place of food in our culture is in the forefront. Oh, to be able to sit down at one of our favorite restaurants for a meal!
But folly offers the sweet and delicious without the associated cost. It promises that stolen things satisfy our deepest longings, that meals eaten alone offer everything that a table filled with friends can offer. Folly never talks about the costs, and certainly no cost to the one who follows her advice.
But there is a cost to both wisdom and folly. Following wisdom costs us our life: we choose to yield our life to the LORD. We choose to give up our right to say “No!” to Him. We surrender to Him and this costs us everything.
With folly, all the costs land on other people. Think of tuition forgiveness, reparations, taxing the rich, and free healthcare. Folly doesn’t discuss the costs to the ‘other’ in these instances, only that there is no cost to you the beneficiary. But this just isn’t true.
When someone is given something for nothing, a paycheck for sitting and doing nothing, the individual is robbed of the dignity afforded by the very act of working. They lose something of themselves when they are not allowed to earn their keep. Someone else pays their way. Someone else bears their burden.
Remember the promises of folly sound great, but there is always a hidden cost.