Read: Proverbs
23:19-35
And be not
drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18
In sailing,
a “sheet” is a rope used to control the movable corners of a sail. There are
three main sails held in place by the sheets aboard a sailing vessel. When
those sheets come loose, it causes the sails to flap uncontrollably and the
ship to be driven mercilessly by the wind and the waves. In other words, “three
sheets to the wind” means that the vessel is completely out of control.
“Three sheets to the wind” is also used to
describe a man who is so drunk that he can no longer control himself. Alcohol
has been the abuser of men, families, and humanity for generations. It is a
destroyer that starts its destruction with the first drop. That is most
certainly the reason that Proverbs 23:31 says, “Look not thou upon wine when it
is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.” To
even look at alcohol with the desire to drink it is a step in the wrong
direction.
Though some would argue the contrary, the
Bible clearly teaches that drinking alcohol is wrong under any circumstances.
However, the purpose of today’s devotion is not to point out those verses and
argue those points; it is to give you a strong warning to avoid alcohol at all
costs. Alcohol is the drink of death. Many young people have taken their first
drink because they were pressured to do so by a “friend” who convinced them it
would be “cool.” The devil does everything he can to use television commercials
and printed advertisements to make people believe that alcohol brings only a
good time and beautiful women. Nothing could be further from reality. There are
thousands of stories readily accessible of successful men who made alcohol their
companion. Its smell was horrendous and the taste even worse; still they chose
to drink, and their lives were forever changed. What started as a small sip
they thought they could control, turned into bottle after bottle until they
drank away their success, their money, their families, and their lives. Then it
was too late to get it all back.
A wise
young man will not even consider drinking alcohol. In addition to the many
warnings in Scripture, Proverbs 23:32 says, “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and
stingeth like an adder.” No young man would be foolish enough to play with a
poisonous snake, and no young man should be foolish enough to try drinking
alcohol. The first drink will set you on a long, lonely road to destruction
from which there is no return.
Quote of the day: “I am more afraid of alcohol than of the bullets
of the enemy.” – Stonewall Jackson
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