The post today is devoted to the end of Proverbs 23, where we read a classic statement on the dangers of alcohol consumption. This teaches us to look beyond short-term pleasure to long-term consequences. I’m reading out of the New Living Translation…
Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.
Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
it stings like a viper.
You will see hallucinations,
and you will say crazy things.
You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,
clinging to a swaying mast.
And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.
I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.
When will I wake up
So I can look for another drink?” Proverbs 23: 29-35
Some of us have lived through this Proverb, and some of us have not. I’m speaking for myself when I say I just marvel at the fact that even though these words of wisdom were written thousands of years ago, they speak loudly into our lives here in the 21st century! When you take the time to digest and meditate on the Word of God, you find out how truly profound it is! Amen?
Getting back to this proverb… we see that the soothing comfort of alcohol is only temporary. Real relief comes from dealing with the cause of the anguish and sorrow and turning to God for peace. Don’t lose yourself in alcohol. Lose yourself in God.
Jesus drank wine. Israel was a wine-producing country. When we look in the Old Testament, it was considered a sign of blessing to have wine presses bursting with new wine. Wisdom is even said to have set her table with wine (Proverbs 9: 2, 5). But also in the Old Testament, people were clearly aware of the dangers of drinking too much wine: it limits clear judgment, dulls the senses, it limits the capacity for self-control, and quite frankly… destroys a person’s function and efficiency. I think this Proverb speaks of not misusing alcohol – making it an end in itself, a means of self-indulgence, or as an escape from life. What are some of your thoughts on this?
