Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. Proverbs 20: 1, NRSV.
Gracious God and Merciful Father, thank You for another opportunity to study Your Word and learn from You. Please give us Your wisdom as we look into Your Word today. In the name of Your Son Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
I do not believe that anyone would simply decide to become an alcoholic. I believe that one of the real evils in the use of drugs, of any kind, is that they do not give the users the opportunity to decide for themselves. They are addictive – they seem to work on the part of your brain where decisions are made, and weaken it. Many wonderful people who are otherwise pleasant and easy to get along with when sober, become abusive, loud, even violent, after having one drink too many. They behave “out of character” when under the influence of alcohol. No wonder the author of the Proverb describes them as “not wise.”
One of the characteristics of a wise person, is making right decisions. Alcohol abuse decreases the activity of the brain, which inevitably affects the decision- making process. Oftentimes, alcoholics suffer what we sometimes refer to as, “blackouts.” At these times they are not aware of what is going on around them, and unfortunately, if they are not in the company of people that are trustworthy, many become the victims of unscrupulous people (robbed, physically abused, raped).
The other side of the coin is that many become abusive themselves, and say and do things of which they are afterward ashamed. Yet one of the hardest things for an alcoholic to do, is to admit that he or she is an alcoholic. In Proverbs 23 there is a descriptions of the consequences of the consumption of alcohol, and of people’s behavior, when they are under its influence. Listen to this sad depiction:
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: “They have struck me, but I was not hurt; they have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink” (29-35)?
Notice the list of maladies that befalls the person who “linger long at the wine.” Some might respond, “That is precisely the problem, they ‘linger long’ at it. I just take a drink every now and then.” My response to that would be: “Everyone who now lingers long at the wine started with one drink.” I hardly believe any of them could even imagine that they would have ended up the way they have. But one drink leads to another, and another, and another, until there is no will power on their part to stop. This is especially true, if they are trying to run away from an unpleasant situation, fill a void, or drown their sorrow in a glass of alcohol. Sad to say, alcohol will only temporarily numb their feelings, only to return, as in the parable of the unclean spirit, “with seven other spirits [hangover, regret, pain, shame, debt, loss of meaningful relationships, loss of employment, just to mention some] more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first” (Matthew 12: 45). Because even when they suffer as they do, notice what is the usual reaction: “When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”
How much better to find refuge in the arms of a loving Savior who is not only able, but willing, to solve all your problems, satisfy all your needs, and keep you sober, by His grace and power! So many have tried Him, and found Him to be faithful. Why not give Jesus an opportunity to help you? I assure you, it will be the wisest decision you will ever make!