Another Drink?

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 20:1

He stumbled, lurched left, lurched right, and then, just as the light was about to turn red, he wandered into the crossing and on across the busy street. At first, as I watched him move, seemingly without purpose as he stumbled and shuffled slowly across, I thought he was suffering the effects of old age or perhaps a physical deformity that caused him to move so. But then I saw it – not even disguised in a brown paper sack – an aluminum can with one of those much-advertised labels indicating that the contents came from some famous brewery. No wonder he couldn’t walk straight; he was drunk.

For centuries, people have pushed and touted alcoholic beverages. In our own age of bright and flashy electronic media and slick magazine presentations, beer, wine and hard liquor all get dressed up and presented as society’s best citizens. “Drink this one,” says the upscale magazine ad for some “velvet” liquor, “and you’ll be sophisticated and prosperous.” “Looking for a companion with a perfect body?” asks the very large billboard, as it presents the newest “light” beer, certain that you’ll make the connection between its product and “sexual” satisfaction. And who could miss the implied promises of prowess and accomplishment in the sponsorship of television sports broadcasts by every beer maker in (and out of) the country. But I can’t get out of my mind the picture of the drunk trying to cross the street; you know, he barely made it without being run over by an impatient driver.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."

Proverbs 23:29-35

The Wise Man, king of Israel and writer of many proverbs, paints a picture that all the clever advertising in the world can’t cover over – alcoholic beverages make a mess of peoples’ lives. Check the police reports, the court dockets, the autopsy records, the shelters for battered women and children, the emergency rooms and any other place where humans reveal their suffering and you’ll find a common thread – much of it was caused by alcohol consumption. It’s not pretty, it’s not flashy, and it’s not slick. And it is all the product of one of Satan’s best lies.

Don’t believe the lie. Don’t spread it around. Don’t reach for that drink. And don’t help anyone else reach for it, either.

Bobby Wheat