Three Sheets to the Wind

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

The Gamer's Bane

Read: Ephesians 5:8-18

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.                                    Ephesians 5:16 

     Over the past decade, video games have taken the world by storm. Improvements in computer animation have made the video game experience more real-to-life than at any other point in history. For this reason, more people have immersed themselves in video gaming than ever before. Despite the unimpeded violence, filthy language, and completely ungodly music associated with most popular video games, Christian young men have begun to accept video game culture, as well. The pursuit of the next level in a game drives them to spend hours upon hours with their thumbs on a remote and their eyes glued to a screen. Everything else gets shut out around them as they enter the bubble known as the gaming world. They are not to be disturbed until they choose to exit or until they are pulled away from achieving dominance in their alternate reality.

     While there is nothing inherently wrong with a video game, there are several dangers that must be taken into consideration if you are to walk away from your gaming paradise spiritually alive. First of all, video games demand much of one’s attention that belongs to God. Such exorbitant amounts of time spent playing video games take away from the time that could and should be spent with God. It’s amazing how young men can find unlimited hours for video game play, but then claim they just don’t have enough time to read their Bibles or spend a few minutes in prayer. Don’t you think God would love it if you spent some time that you normally spend focusing on getting to the next level of the game on Him instead? Aside from the obvious issues, taking time that belongs to God, think about how it affects your focus away from the games. Every time you sit in church, your mind drifts to ways you can beat the game. Every time you close your eyes, you replay scenes from your gaming experiences. Those are times that God could use to speak with you; instead, the video games have taken His place. Another danger of video games is their content. Most are far from pleasing to God. When you sit and listen to all that ungodly music and language or watch ungodly actions, then you become numb to the fact that they are wicked. Things that should bother you no longer do because they are so familiar.

     There is nothing wrong with a using a clean video game for entertainment from time to time, but in the end, video games count for nothing – you are not made a better person or Christian because you played them. Focus on what really matters – living for and pleasing God.

Quote of the day: “The greatest use of time is to spend it for something that will outlast it.

Not Without Honor

Read: Ephesians 6:1-3

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.                                                                Exodus 20:12

    

     Imagine how the soldiers who crucified Christ must have felt when they stood before God at the end of their lives and realized their mistake. The soldier who shoved the crown of thorns on His head must have been mortified to learn that Jesus was the King of Kings. The soldier who drove the spikes through His hands and feet must have been devastated to learn that He was not the criminal he thought He was. The soldiers who lifted the heavy beams that formed the rugged cross and dropped it into its final resting place atop Mt. Calvary were undoubtedly astounded to find out that they had murdered the One who had created the things they handled so mercilessly. The soldier who gave Jesus vinegar to drink in place of water as he hung there dying must have been stunned when he heard that Jesus was the Living water and that he had done his part to ensure His death. Jesus had remarked in Mark 6:4 that a prophet was not without honor except in his own country, and those soldiers had proven that to be true. They had unknowingly crucified the One who deserved every last ounce of their honor and respect. They didn’t realize what they had until He was gone.

     It is easy to criticize those soldiers for their treatment of Christ, but many young men treat their parents the same way. Parents certainly are not Jesus Christ, but they do deserve honor for who they are. Your mother went through the jaws of death, even offering her own life if that was needed, to give you birth. Your parents sacrifice daily by going to work to support you and by giving up the nice things that they could have themselves so they can give you a place to live, food, schooling, and so many more things. Imagine how you will feel when you stand before God one day and realize your mistake in mistreating the parents He gave you. Parents are often not without honor except in their own families, which is really a shame because within their own families is where they deserve honor the most.

     No parent is perfect, and some haven’t earned the honor and respect of their children, but that doesn’t give the children the right to act toward them in a way that is displeasing to God. His command is not to honor them if they are honorable; this command is to honor your parents. Period. Honoring them involves obeying them, respecting them (to their faces and behind their backs), and following their advice. Children who unfailingly honor their parents will be honored by God for following His command to give them the respect they deserve.

Quote of the day: “Respect is what we owe; love, what we give.”           – Philip Bradley

Straight as an Arrow

Read: Ephesians 2:1-10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.                      Ephesians 2:10

     One of the most feared objects on the American frontier was an Indian arrow. As new land was discovered, many in the East gathered all of the belongings they had attained and headed west to the unknown. As their wagon trains rolled away from civilization, they were rolling into the land that belonged to Indians. Naturally, the Native Americans did not relish the fact that the land they had once freely hunted and cultivated was just being easily taken away. They decided to fight for it. Their weapon of choice was a bow and arrow. The Indians were experts at making the arrows they used with their bows – they had to make their own or be defeated. I can guarantee that they took the job seriously. They knew that their lives could one day depend on how well they did their job. They worked hard to make them straight and sharp so they would be effective.

     Psalm 127:4 says that a man’s children are like arrows in the hand of a mighty man. Your parents, then, have the responsibility to shape you into something that will be useful in fighting the enemy of the soul. Satan wants your heart as badly as God wants your heart. For an arrow to be shaped properly, it must be cut, chiseled, whittled, and sharpened. Your parents do the same to you, but it will not always be a pleasant experience. They will have to cut out certain friends from your circle, chisel down the bad attitudes, whittle away the flaws in your character, and sharpen your talents from God. But you can know that they are doing it for your good. God is creating you for a specific purpose; you have a plan for your life that you must fulfill.

     As you get older, the “arrow” that your parents have prepared will be put on the bow and shot out into the world, headed for the target it was intended to hit. If your parents raised you for God, then you have a specific destination. Have you ever noticed that an arrow doesn’t change course in the middle of its flight? Neither should you. Too many young people that have grown up in godly homes with good parents have become distracted by the world and changed course. Effective, well-made arrows hit their targets. Don’t fight against God’s intentions for your life – it is His plan for you.

Quote of the day: “An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus and keep aiming.”

Let It Go

Read: Ephesians 4:17-32

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice…                                                             Ephesians 4:31

      I don’t know what it is about balloons that makes them so attractive to kids, but it is obvious that most absolutely love them. They prove it by the way that they bawl when they accidentally let it go into the air or when it pops. You would think the world was coming to an end by the way they bellow and carry on. I’ve seen many kids who were completely inconsolable at the death of a balloon. My own kids are that way. I can see the point in using balloons for decoration and things like that, but one of the best uses of balloons I’ve seen is for mining the helium inside. When I was growing up, we would suck the helium out of the balloon to talk in the crazy chimpanzee voice (Do chimpanzees have voices?) that brings rounds of laughter from all those standing nearby.

     There is one other thing that makes a balloon special that, perhaps, you have never thought of before. Balloons can remind us of what we ought to do in our lives with all those unholy characteristics and qualities in our lives. (Cue the sappy music). Imagine yourself standing in the middle of a wide-open field holding a marker in one hand and a balloon on a string in the other. Think of all the things in your life that are not pleasing to God and write them on the balloon. Ask yourself: Do I have any music that I should not be listening to? Are there television programs that I should not be watching? Am I bitter toward my parents or counselors? Are there inappropriate words or phrases that I have made mine? Am I holding on to a bad attitude? Do I hang out with the wrong friends that I know I should get rid of? There you are, standing in the field with nothing between you and the sky. Now just let it go. Let go of the balloon, and with it, all those things that you know should just not be in your life. Let go of the bitterness, the anger, the friends, the music, the inappropriate behavior. Just let it go and tell God that you are never going to try to take it back.

     The characteristic of a balloon with helium is that it will never come back down. It may pop from the pressure in the atmosphere, but it will never return to the person who let it go. Stand there in your mind’s eye and watch all those bad qualities float out of sight; then determine that you will never go searching for them again.

Quote of the day: “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

Divine Hide and Seek

Read: Ephesians 5:8-17

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.                                                                                                  Ephesians 5:17 

    

     Hide and seek is arguably one of the most popular games of all time. It is free and fun. When I was growing up, we used to play it everywhere – in the house, in the dark, in a dark house, in the barn, and about anywhere else we could think of when we needed to be amused and occupied. On several occasions, the hiding spot that I had was so good that I didn’t want to come out, even after that particular round was over, because I wanted to hide there again; I didn’t want anyone to see me emerging from that spot.  There were some very good memories made during those childhood days of hide and seek.

     Unfortunately, many young adults are still playing hide and seek, but on a spiritual level. They feel as if God is hiding His will from them when that is not the case at all. God does not play games with our lives just because He is all-knowing and He can. He is trying to reveal to each person what His will is for them. The problem is that most people are not looking through eyes that are spiritual enough or clean enough to recognize it. Think about how foolish it would be for God to say that He wants to use people to accomplish His will on earth, and then hide it from them. Of course, that is not something that God, in His wisdom, would do to his children.

     No, in fact, the exact opposite is true. Just as Adam and Eve were hiding from God in the Garden of Eden after they sinned, many Christians are actually hiding from God as well. They don’t want to live a life that is completely open to Him for fear that He might not be pleased with what He finds there. Rather than change those things that keep them from being right with God, they choose to hide from God and run from His will. Rather than stepping into the daylight to see the perfect will of God clearly, they hide behind the cloud of sin that keeps them from seeing God’s will for their lives.

     You see, it is not God that is hiding from us, it is we who are hiding our lives from His will. Be sure that your life is clean before God so that you might clearly see what He has for your life.

Quote of the day: “Many pray, not to find God’s will, but to get approval of their own.”

Sunny-Day Kindness

Read: Ephesians 4:29-32


And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.                                            Ephesians 4:32

     Perhaps you remember reading Aesop’s Fables in elementary school like I did. One of his stories that I still remember is “The Sun and the Wind.” The Sun and the Wind were in an argument over who was more powerful. A traveler happened along so they decided to use him to settle their dispute. The Wind said he thought he could use his force to make the traveler remove his coat more quickly than the Sun could. The Sun agreed and went behind a cloud to watch. The Wind rushed in with all its fury. It huffed and blew and heaved great amounts of air, but it only made the traveler draw his coat tighter around his chest. At last the Wind gave up, and it was the Sun’s turn. He eased out from behind the cloud and began to cast his warm rays over the traveler. In just a couple minutes, the traveler was so warmed that he stopped to remove his coat. Aesop ended by saying, “Kindness effects more than severity.”

     Most would consider kindness to be purely a practical aspect of life, but it is actually very spiritual as well. God commands kindness from His children. One of the easiest things to do, especially for young men, is to try to act macho and tough around the girls or younger children. They try to prove their toughness; as a result they end up mistreating the young ladies or the younger boys. They try to get attention by picking on those who are not as strong as they are. Be careful not to fall into that trap and act that way. You may find an advantage now by gaining a certain amount of respect due to fear. But in the end, unkindness never wins lasting friends, and it will ultimately lead to a loss of influence amongst your peers.

     When God commands us to be tenderhearted, He is not telling us to be soft and let people walk all over us. What He is saying, however, it that we should feel compassion toward those who are not as fortunate as we are, and, instead of picking on them as others may, we should befriend them. A kind word may be just what that person needs to encourage them to continue on. A harsh word said in haste to get a laugh may be just what drives them over the edge.     

     When you are kind, you will find that those who seem less privileged will become friends that you never realized you could have. When you become interested in others is when God will give back to you in this area beyond what you could imagine.

Quote of the day: “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”