Deep-Fried Freedom on the Fourth of July

Proverbs 4:17For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.Proverbs Daily is a reader-supported publication. All posts are free, but all donations help spread the message. When you see the word “upgrade,” you’re simply invited to help me make the sacred positively contagious...thank you in advance for becoming a free or paid subscriber.Every Fourth of July, I try to do two things.I get out on the grill.And I listen to Frederick Douglass.I know. That may not be everybody’s playlist between the ribs, the burgers, and the fireworks.But for me, it keeps the day honest.Because Douglass asked one of the most powerful questions in American history:“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”He did not ask that because he hated freedom.He asked it because he loved freedom too much to let hypocrisy get dressed up in red white and blue and not be challenged.Don’t hand me celebration while somebody else is still carrying chains.Don’t invite me to the feast if the table was built on another person’s suffering.That brings us right into Proverbs.Proverbs 4:17 says:“For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.”That is table language.Bread.Wine.Appetite.Consumption.Proverbs is showing us people, and even systems, that have learned to feed on what should have made them sick.Wrong becomes normal enough to digest.Violence becomes familiar enough to sip.And maybe that is where the Fourth of July becomes more than fireworks and barbecue.It becomes a question:What are we eating in the name of freedom?Because freedom can be deep-fried too.Battered in the crunchiness of slick slogans.Dropped in the hot oil of indifference.Seasoned with the spiciness of outrage.Served up quick, like fast food for the soul.Easy to grab.Easy to swallow.But unhealthy things keep working underneath.A nation can celebrate freedom and still be captive to its appetites.Appetite for power.Appetite for domination.Appetite for comfort without compassion.Appetite for winning without wisdom.And before we point too far out there, Proverbs brings the question home.What am I feeding on?Do I feed on anger and call it awareness?Do I feed on contempt and call it conviction?Do I feed on fear and call it being informed?Because whatever we keep eating eventually becomes energy in us.This is not about hating the Fourth of July.Light the grill.Enjoy your family.Watch the fireworks.Celebrate every true gift of freedom.But let wisdom check the ingredients.Real freedom should make us more human, not less.More compassionate, not more cruel.More truthful, not more comfortable with lies.A nation approaching 250 years old has to ask if it is growing in wisdom, or just getting older with louder fireworks.And each of us has to ask the same thing.What kind of freedom am I practicing?The freedom to indulge every appetite?Or the freedom to choose what gives life?🔥REMEMBERFreedom rings hollow when wickedness is still on the menu.🙏🏽PRAYERGod, purify my appetite until freedom feeds compassion and wisdom.🎯TODAY’S CHALLENGEBefore you celebrate today, pause and ask: “What have I been feeding on?” Then choose one life-giving act of freedom: forgive someone, serve someone, tell the truth, bless your family, or refuse to feed on what keeps your soul unhealthy.About the AuthorFred 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