February 23

Feb 23 - Today from Proverbs 23 we look at verse 35
"They hit me," you will say, "but I am not hurt! They beat me, but I do not feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"

I am not a prohibitionist, nor a teetotaler. But I am very cautious about the consumption of alcoholic beverage. It is tempting to teach total abstinence as opposed to moderation, because people have such a deceptive ability to place their line of moderation where they want it. I kind of frame it this way; drinking alcohol is not necessarily a sin, but drunkenness most certainly is. For those who cannot discern the line of drunkenness, it is better that they do not indulge at all. The other instance where I consider the consumption of alcohol a sin is when is causes another to stumble. There are two ways which this can affect another. If the person is prone toward alcoholism, one could be a source of temptation by drinking in their presence. If the person is convinced that drinking alcohol in any form is a sin, one could offend them by drinking in their presence. So, whether they have a drinking problem, or a problem with drinking, it is proper that one refrains from drinking alcohol in their presence. Oh, by the way, there is one more situation when drinking alcohol is a sin; and that is if you are under the age of 21 years. God has placed His authority on civil governors, and to break civil law is rebellion against God's authority.
Having said all of that, I have a few thoughts on today's proverb, which on the surface is about excessive drinking. But I believe there is a deeper principle as well. Pain is a gift from God. Many things that cause pain are not. The value of pain is that it is an indicator that something is wrong, and if it is not corrected it can cause serious injury and even death. One of the reasons leprosy is so dangerous is because it deadens the nerves. A leprous person can get a cut or an abrasion and never know it. In the absence of pain, the wound is not discovered or treated and it quickly becomes infected and the other agents of the disease begin to rot the flesh. I believe that this is the reason that leprosy in the Old Testament became a type for sin. Sin acts exactly the same way in our soul. It gets in, it sears our conscience (we no longer feel the pain of conviction), and opens the way for infections and greater destruction to enter and rot our soul. Pain is a gift, whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual, it signals that something is wrong and it needs correction.
This is when consumption of alcohol becomes a sin. One drinks to ease emotional pain - to 'forget'. Or one drinks to gain 'liquid courage' before settling a matter ("They hit me, but I am not hurt.") There are other things people turn to besides alcohol to deal with emotional pain, or potential emotional pain. They may turn to gambling, to drugs, to fantasies of illicit sex (porn) or perhaps getting lost in a pastime to distract from the pain when they should be dealing with the source of the pain. Unless one turns to the Word of God in their pain, one turns to the wrong solution. In almost every case, God counsels us to confront issues - in love. There may be instances where we are not able to directly confront, but God gives sure counsel. To attempt to ignore, push down, or dull the pain with other things will worsen the matter. To be free, one must earnestly seek God's counsel, and then must act upon His counsel. It is often uncomfortable, and probably just the opposite of what we would like to do. But if we follow God in our pain, when we 'wake up' and get on the other side of the pain, we won't be looking for the next drink. We will be thanking God for His wisdom and grace, and for the gift of pain.