Proverbs - Wisdom and Wine

Proverbs 23:29-35

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

This is a very descriptive text about drinking.  It starts out letting us know what accompanies those who think drinking is fun.  They will have woe, sorrow, contentions, babbling, wounds without cause and redness of eyes.  This accompanies a drinking life style.  We are warned not to look at wine when it is red and seems so grown up and attractive.  Like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, alcohol is presented as delicious, attractive, and promises us confidence, prestige and freedom.  This is not the end of this path.  What starts out as fun, ends up biting like a serpent.  You cannot hear the serpent creep up on you.  Serpents are usually camouflaged whether they are green in the jungle or brown in the dessert.  Alcohol is usually camouflaged as well.  Whether it’s partying when you are young or distressing you when you are older, it will bite like a serpent.  Soon the venom of alcohol will take over your life before you have a chance to react.  You can end up in compromising sexual situations, saying things you regret later and feel like you are on ship being tossed in the ocean.  You can end up being in a fight or getting hurt and you don’t even know what happened.  You wake up the next day having said and done things you can’t even remember.  Yet, you go to that bar again.   You order that margarita one more time.  You open up that wine at dinner again.  Look not at the wine when it is red.  We don’t need alcohol and our children need to be warned about the potential disasters in taking up drinking.  Have you warned them?  Are you patterning a sober lifestyle for them?  You may be able to handle the alcohol but your child may not.  It is always better to avoid alcohol use at all rather than risk exposing your children to a vice they may not be able to handle.