Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share ❄️ Stolen Water & Colder Ice
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
❄️ Stolen Water & Colder Ice
Proverbs 9:17
Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!
Proverbs Daily is a reader and listener supported program. Every post is free, but if you’d like to help spread the message and make the sacred positively contagious consider being a free or paid subscriber. Just look for the word upgrade or subscribe and click on that. Thanks in advance!
Let’s be honest—this verse feels true. The ‘sweetness’ of stolen water; the ‘spiciness’ of sneaking around and ‘getting away with it’? Oh, now that’s intoxicating! Have you ever noticed the magnetic pull of the bad boy or the nasty girl? It's just something about doing wrong that we as humans can hardly resist.
Here’s the irony: I think stolen water does taste sweet—for the moment. You can call it psychological, the placebo effect, or just a flat out illusion, but sweetness born from deception is sugar with poison mixed in.
That’s exactly what’s happening here: Lady Folly (that’s Lady Wisdom’s nemesis) builds her entire empire on hacks, and shortcuts, and illusions. It’s that “Sweet as Tabu” energy with the hypnotizing groove and all!
I grew up in California in the 70’s and came back to the South as a teenager during the 80s, and I remember once hearing an older black man that I deeply respected jokingly say,
“Well you know White people’s ice is colder than your ice.”
Think about that. Now he was joking, but I want you to see the irony: same water, same freezer, same ice—but put that cup in the hands of the oppressor and some Black folks were convinced that what belonged to white people was automatically better.
That’s the same mind game Lady Folly plays. She doesn’t actually change the quality of the thing itself. She simply plants a belief that stolen or forbidden goods are somehow superior. It’s an illusion, and illusions are always tools of control.
That’s why “bad boys” get branded as more exciting Why stolen merchandise gets called “hot,” And why some still believe you can gain what wisdom has without doing what wisdom does.
Folly brags that she can hack the system. But hacking the system is still slavery—you’re always looking over your shoulder, hustling to keep the hustle alive. It’s a heavier burden than doing the work in the first place.
But the Bible warns us in James 3:15 about this kind of thinking. He calls it “earthly, unspiritual, and demonic”.
Now compare the two women in Proverbs:
* Look at the two:
* Wisdom built her house—steady, intentional, sustainable.
* Folly just squats in hers—brash, flashy, temporary.
* Listen to the two:
* Wisdom calls openly, offering instruction.
* Folly also calls publicly, but she’s selling hype, and going viral.
* Learn from the two:
* Wisdom did the work and offers access: She wants to give you the blueprint so you can build your house too.
* Folly hacked her way in and offers stolen goods: She tempts you with knockoffs that collapse the moment you lean on them.
One is the path of substance. The other is the path of sizzle.
So remember the irony: both offers sound good, which is why discernment matters. Wisdom requires work, yes. But Folly demands more work in the long run—cover-ups, excuses, lies, damage control. Just look at what’s going down with the Epstein files RIGHT NOW! That “sweet water” eventually turned bitter. That “secret food” left somebody in the company of the dead.
Bottom Line: 👉 Do the work. It’s harder up front, but it’s worth it in the end.
🙏🏽 Prayer
Lord, help me resist illusions and embrace wisdom’s steady way.
💡 Today’s Challenge:
Identify your “Sweet as Tabu” area where you’ve been chasing shortcuts. Remember, sometimes to tame it, you gotta name it. Once you’ve named it, replace it with one step of steady, honest work.
About the Author
Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch
📱Experience Proverbs Daily by Subscribing!
Ready to receive daily wisdom directly on your phone?
Go to proverbsdaily.org for the app or just click that Subscribe button right now
Get full access to Hey Fred Lynch! at heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Daily Wisdom, Community Growth, Under 5 Minutes.Proverbs 9:17
Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!
Proverbs Daily is a reader and listener supported program. Every post is free, but if you’d like to help spread the message and make the sacred positively contagious consider being a free or paid subscriber. Just look for the word upgrade or subscribe and click on that. Thanks in advance!
Let’s be honest—this verse feels true. The ‘sweetness’ of stolen water; the ‘spiciness’ of sneaking around and ‘getting away with it’? Oh, now that’s intoxicating! Have you ever noticed the magnetic pull of the bad boy or the nasty girl? It's just something about doing wrong that we as humans can hardly resist.
Here’s the irony: I think stolen water does taste sweet—for the moment. You can call it psychological, the placebo effect, or just a flat out illusion, but sweetness born from deception is sugar with poison mixed in.
That’s exactly what’s happening here: Lady Folly (that’s Lady Wisdom’s nemesis) builds her entire empire on hacks, and shortcuts, and illusions. It’s that “Sweet as Tabu” energy with the hypnotizing groove and all!
I grew up in California in the 70’s and came back to the South as a teenager during the 80s, and I remember once hearing an older black man that I deeply respected jokingly say,
“Well you know White people’s ice is colder than your ice.”
Think about that. Now he was joking, but I want you to see the irony: same water, same freezer, same ice—but put that cup in the hands of the oppressor and some Black folks were convinced that what belonged to white people was automatically better.
That’s the same mind game Lady Folly plays. She doesn’t actually change the quality of the thing itself. She simply plants a belief that stolen or forbidden goods are somehow superior. It’s an illusion, and illusions are always tools of control.
That’s why “bad boys” get branded as more exciting Why stolen merchandise gets called “hot,” And why some still believe you can gain what wisdom has without doing what wisdom does.
Folly brags that she can hack the system. But hacking the system is still slavery—you’re always looking over your shoulder, hustling to keep the hustle alive. It’s a heavier burden than doing the work in the first place.
But the Bible warns us in James 3:15 about this kind of thinking. He calls it “earthly, unspiritual, and demonic”.
Now compare the two women in Proverbs:
* Look at the two:
* Wisdom built her house—steady, intentional, sustainable.
* Folly just squats in hers—brash, flashy, temporary.
* Listen to the two:
* Wisdom calls openly, offering instruction.
* Folly also calls publicly, but she’s selling hype, and going viral.
* Learn from the two:
* Wisdom did the work and offers access: She wants to give you the blueprint so you can build your house too.
* Folly hacked her way in and offers stolen goods: She tempts you with knockoffs that collapse the moment you lean on them.
One is the path of substance. The other is the path of sizzle.
So remember the irony: both offers sound good, which is why discernment matters. Wisdom requires work, yes. But Folly demands more work in the long run—cover-ups, excuses, lies, damage control. Just look at what’s going down with the Epstein files RIGHT NOW! That “sweet water” eventually turned bitter. That “secret food” left somebody in the company of the dead.
Bottom Line: 👉 Do the work. It’s harder up front, but it’s worth it in the end.
🙏🏽 Prayer
Lord, help me resist illusions and embrace wisdom’s steady way.
💡 Today’s Challenge:
Identify your “Sweet as Tabu” area where you’ve been chasing shortcuts. Remember, sometimes to tame it, you gotta name it. Once you’ve named it, replace it with one step of steady, honest work.
About the Author
Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch
📱Experience Proverbs Daily by Subscribing!
Ready to receive daily wisdom directly on your phone?
Go to proverbsdaily.org for the app or just click that Subscribe button right now
Get full access to Hey Fred Lynch! at heyfredlynch.substack.com/subscribe