Are You Drinking From The River of Life?
What have you been drinking? What kind of joy does this drinking bring you?
There are serious repercussions to those who drink for fleshly pleasures. While Paul does direct Timothy to drink little wine (1 Timothy 5:23), it is to make his stomach feel better. It’s grape juice that helps the stomach, not alcoholic wine (neither is it a “medicine”). Many unnecessarily argue, without context and humility.
Fleshly drinking exposes all
Noah drank of his own vineyard and got drunk lay in his tent naked. Ham’s generation, Canaan was cursed because he did not cover the nakedness of his father after discovering Noah lying naked in his tent. Lot’s daughters bore his children after they intoxicated him with wine, he did not know what he did. Even righteous men are taken advantage of; generations are hurt because of it.
Excess causes spiritual poverty
King Solomon warns about the after affects of excess drinking, its poverty (Proverbs 23:21). Isaiah tells us how priest and prophets erred in their vision and judgement because of drunkenness (Isaiah 28:7).
Jesus is our spiritual drinking rock
We are called to drink of that spiritual rock who is Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). Be filled in the Spirit of God (Ephesians 5:18), in order to inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).
Many are making a big deal about food and drink today (1 Timothy 4:3), abstaining from meat which God has already blessed. Now food neither commends us to God nor makes us better (1 Corinthians 8:8), so we mustn’t make a big deal of it. As believers we need to stay focused on walking honestly in spiritual fervour not nourish our hearts for slaughter (James 5:5).
The time is here for us to empty ourselves and drink up and sync up with God's perfect will. Jesus is coming soon, praise God and amen!