(Proverbs 9:5 KJV) Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
Again we have reference to “wine” (3196). This is the same wine that is called a mocker. Yet here it is being prepared and offered by Wisdom. The Bible has sufficient to say about alcoholic beverages to conclude that they are not automatically sinful but have the potential to be destructive. Verses like this seem to imply that properly used they are acceptable. Other verses point out the danger.
I am a teetotaler. For those of you who are too young to know that word it means that I don’t have anything to do with alcohol as a beverage. I feel that alcohol offers little or no benefit to society and creates massive harm. For that reason I would encourage people to avoid it.
I think that is a product of wisdom. Wisdom knows when to say “no”: All the time. Wisdom also says I cannot condemn you to hell if you have a beer once in awhile. I will even sit and socialize with you as I consume my chemically produced diet drink.
So? Show moderation and wisdom. Remember such cliches as “It is easier to stop if you never start.” And please breathe the other way.
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2 comments:
As you know, I have a few sips (4) of red wine a night before bed for purely medicinal purposes (I get the cheap stuff, and it tastes really lousy). Yet, I realize that many people have trouble with alcohol, including a few of my relatives and inlaws. I've always thought that was a case where "IF your "hand" offends you, cut it off" applies.
I have become much less judgmental on this issue as I have grown older. When I was younger I went just with our church's tradition which was totally Kerry Nation attitude. With maturity I began to look more to how the Bible framed the issue. I remember a time in my life when I was using a certain cough medicine that had alcohol in it. It really worked. Then they took the alcohol out and it wasn't near as effective.
The Bible also talks about gluttony and gossip. If we were as religious about those as alcohol maybe the world would be a better place.
Thanks again.
Grace and peace.
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