It is not for the kings, O Lemuel;
drinking wine is not for the kings,
nor is strong drink for the rulers.
Or else he will drink and forget what has been decreed,
and he will pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
and wine to those in bitter distress.
in bitterness of soul,
He will drink and forget his poverty,
and his misery he will not remember anymore.
Proverbs 31
When i read this the other day, i gotta admit, my heart first rejoiced that there was a good reason for alcohol and dissipation for some of us. i include "dissipation" because that is what is really at stake here. Forgetfulness. Disconnecting. Unplugging. Mindlessness. Unconsciousness. Checking out. There are as many ways to do it as there are sinners who desire it. Alcohol, wine, strong drink are just convenient proxies but fill in the blank: sex, drugs, music, eating, hobbies, binging television, isolation, community, social media, even types of work, none of these things are evil in and of themselves. Most if not all were created by God for specific purposes and our delight in His goodness through creation. It is how we use them which makes them forms of mental suicide. Not in obedience to how their and our Creator designed them to be used but as gods ourselves, whose cravings must be filled, whose lust for comfort must be satiated.
Under three things the earth trembles,
and under four, it is not able to bear up:
under a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is satisfied with food;
under an unloved woman when she gets married,
and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.
Proverbs 30
A slave who becomes king, who is elevated higher than his or her master. What else but pride could this be? The pride of Lucifer. The pride which Eve swallowed. The pride which rules all mankind now; to look God in the face and say, "Not your will but MINE." This is what drives behind dissipation and drunkenness in all its forms. A servant, for servants we are, who has made himself unfit for service, even if only temporarily. A child who has stopped up their ears, turned up the music and refuses to hear her father's calling. A disciple sleeping instead of praying. A steward beating the slaves in his charge. A lamp without oil. Kings filling harems and stables and building our own citadel palaces. A watchman turned inward. Asleep at our post. An ambassador reveling with the locals. A soldier without his weapons. It is eating the Passover but not being ready to travel. No belt, no sandals, maybe even naked. A dumb witness, or worse, a foolish one. One unready or unwilling to give his testimony.
Who may be so? The perishing. Those bitter of soul. Those in abject poverty and misery. Those without hope. Those without redemption. Those without a savior. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die, this life, as sad as it is and can be, is as good as it gets.
This is not our testimony. This is not who we are, we who know the Savior who refused the wine mixed with myrrh, a narcotic, so he would be clear headed and able to serve to the best of his ability, even in his death, as he obediently took all the wrath of man and Almighty, Holy, Holy, Holy God for our sin of rebellious pride against his own Father for the joy set before him...so that he could make us co-heirs with Himself when he became King of all kings and Ruler over all authorities and powers in the earth and heavenly realms. We who were hand picked by him now serve this King as ministers of His authority, priests and witnesses of His testimony to a poor and perishing world, ambassadors of His Kingdom come, coming and yet to come, servants with access to all the King's joy, comfort and resources. Let us today, be ready to work and die while it is today, for tomorrow,
we drink and dine in Paradise!
