Drinking?

2/20/2012

Proverbs 31:4- “It is not for kings, O Lemuel- not for kings to get drunk with wine, not for rulers to crave beer.”

Interpretation: It is not for kings to get drunk with wine…and it is not for rulers to crave beer? Let me think about this. In America we have kings without absolute jurisdiction over others- called celebrities. Their power doesn’t make laws but it certainly can win OJ Simpson a trial or keep Lindsay Lohan out of jail, both of which aren’t a stranger to getting drunk with wine. There is a collective family of rulers made up of famous people who influence this world so dominantly and seem to have a subliminal authority over society and the way it runs. And last I checked- getting drunk with wine was top of their to do list. I think about junior high- when kids in my grade first began experimenting with alcohol. There was a group of rulers who our whole grade subconsciously looked to and yearned for- they were called the popular kids- who everyone wanted to be and whose opinions seemed to matter the most. And they also seemed to crave beer every weekend. Why is it not okay for kings and rulers to get drunk or desire to be intoxicated? What I have learned growing older is something very eerie but very important. I always knew the older kids in high school, they were who I would hang out with and who I wanted to impress. I lived a lot of my life full steam in the wrong direction, but there was one thing I forgot; There are younger kids watching me. Younger kids? I barely paid attention to the kids in the grades below me, I was too busy trying to live my life and live up to what the older kids were doing. But that was exactly the point. I was being led in the wrong direction by celebrities and TV and what the world told me and certain kids in school, but on top of that, I was unknowingly leading astray all of the kids who were watching me live, and I had no idea I was doing it. I know that God gave me leadership abilities, and the last thing that I would ever want to do is think it is an okay idea for me to put my guard down for one second and be less impactful for Christ and decide to just have a little drink because there are people who are watching me and it is my desire to continue to point people in the direction of Christ’s love and truth and joy. I will not be like Brittney Spears or the popular group in school or how I used to be ever again, with God’s help I will be an intentional king, an intentional ruler. My kingdom may not be very big and I may not rule much but I plan to encourage those who look to me and not be counted as a hypocrite for drinking on the job. I’ve had my fun with that.

Application: It was my application last week to write three letters but I was sick in bed three days so I wasn’t able to. I will write those letters this week, now with more of a mindset that I have influenced these people greatly in the wrong direction, and these letters should show them the light.