KEEP JESUS FIRST!!!

PROVERBS 23:29-30

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? 30Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.

23: 29-35   Israel was a wine-producing country. In the Old Testament, winepresses bursting with new wine were considered a sign of blessing (3: 10). Wisdom is even said to have set her table with wine (9: 2, 5). But the Old Testament writers were alert to the dangers of overindulging in wine. Too much wine dulls the senses and limits clear judgment (31: 1-9). It lowers the capacity for self-control (4: 17) and impairs a person’s efficiency (21: 17). To make wine an end in itself, a means of self-indulgence, or an escape from life is to misuse it and and invite the consequences suffered by drunkards.

23: 29-30   The soothing comfort of alcohol provides only temporary relief to those struggling with anxiety, anguish, or sorrow. Real relief comes from dealing with the cause of the anguish and sorrow and turning to God for peace. Elsewhere in the Bible, wine is described as a blessing from God (Psalm 104: 14-15), and Jesus used it as a symbol of his new covenant with us (1   Corinthians 11: 25-26). These verses are not trying to make a blanket statement about the evils of alcohol but rather the abuse of alcohol. Like any gift from God (food, sex, work, money), using it as he intended brings happiness and blessing, but abusing it brings great sorrow and sometimes devastating consequences.

Tyndale. NIV Life Application Study Bible.

Do we ever OVERINDULGE in something we do? I am sure most of us have. Even if it is something like work, to much of anything can lead to our not keeping GOD at the center of our lives.

ON THE WAY HOME WALK WITH JESUS and make sure we keep JESUS CHRIST the center of our lives and bringing glory to him not other things!

otwhministries.org By Richard Dean Brooks