BYOB

(Pro 23:21 KJV)  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Today the word that stood out to me, was “drowsiness”.  It stood out, not because of the word itself, but because of the word that Moffatt substituted for it.  He calls it reveling.  Now the word drowsy is a much better translation of the Hebrew.  One of the problems we have is this is the only place it is used in the Bible.  The word is used so that makes it hard to understand.  When he uses reveling instead of drowsy, he is taking a bit of liberty.  He is interpreting.

I like his interpretation as a rabbit trail to follow in trying to understand the dangers of alcohol.  I don’t drink myself, but I am amazed at how expensive it is when you go out to eat and they actually have a list of alcoholic beverages available.  I remember going to one nice restaurant and they had this little kiosk on the desk on the table and it was listing individual whiskeys at about $25 a glass.  How can anybody afford that kind of thing.  Anyhow, I see how drinking can drive you into poverty.  Poverty means that you’re dressed in rags.  What struck me about this was a testimony.  I heard one time of a Korean gentleman who said that when he became a Christian in Korea, his disposable income went up 75% because when he became a Christian, he quit drinking and gambling and doing other kinds of activities that tend to suck out all of his financial support.

So?  Sometimes it’s the application of the truth that brings home why we should be living holy lives.  No, you don’t go to hell for having one drink.  No, alcoholic beverages are not automatically condemned in scripture.  But, it’s clear that there is a real danger of damaging your life and your family by the wrong priorities.