Addiction Unpacked

Proverbs 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink (ESV)

King Lemuel’s mother tells him, in verse three “do not give your ways to those who destroy kings.” In America today alcohol is socially accepted, consumed with excess, abused, misused and has taken the lives of many. So we ask, why are so many people turning to alcohol when then consequences of drinking are devastating. This is nothing new, if we look at what King Solomon said in Proverbs 23:29-35, “ 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 over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at whine 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 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.” And still yet what concludes this statement, “I must have another drink.” I am not even going to being to unload what Solomon says in these verses, because there is a lot to be said. Although what I will say is here we see addiction unpacked, the sorrow of it, the deception within, then denial and ultimately the loss of a clear sense of reality, leaving you entangled and enslaved to the very thing causing you the hurt. I know the grips addiction can hold in your life, I also know alcohol in excess has no place in the life of a Godly man. If we are not of sound judgment, then what impact are we leaving on those around us? Titus 2:12 says, “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”

Application:
Today I will pray for my brother who struggles with addiction.