WHY I DON'T DRINK ALCOHOL by Cathy Palmer
"For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or hard liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth," said an angel of the Lord to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist in Luke 1
What about drinking as a Christian? How much is too much? Should we drink at all? Should we preach against drinking? Where do you draw the line? Please tell me the ADVANTAGES of drinking alcohol? Here in Germany and across Europe, most Christians think that occasional drinking is ok. I personally decided years before going to Bible School not to drink at all. Why? I do not want to stumble anyone plus I see how alcohol has destroyed so many lives around me. But more than that, the last time I had a glass of wine was at a secular Christmas party MANY years ago and I remember thinking, "I don't care what God thinks." This TOTALLY freaked me out because I ALWAYS want to care what God thinks! So I never drank alcohol again (except with occasional communion over which I have no control). While doing a word search on "alcohol" in the NLT, this is what I found and they are all warnings against it:
Leviticus 10:9 "You and your descendants must never drink wine or any other alcoholic drink before going into the Tabernacle. If you do, you will die. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be kept by all future generations."
Numbers 6:3 "they must give up wine and other alcoholic drinks. They must not use vinegar made from wine, they must not drink other fermented drinks or fresh grape juice, and they must not eat grapes or raisins."
Judges 13:4 "You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food."
Judges 13:7 "But he told me, `You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.'"
Judges 13:14 "She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food."
Hosea 4:11 "Alcohol and prostitution have robbed my people of their brains." (my personal favorite!)
Now let me ask this, how can a person know if their drinking of alcohol is causing someone to stumble or not? I propose that you cannot always know and thus, I believe the better path is not to drink at all.
Romans 14:20 "Don't tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, there is nothing wrong with these things in themselves. But it is wrong to eat anything if it makes another person stumble."
Romans 14:21 "Don't eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another Christian to stumble."
1 Corinthians 8:9 "But you must be careful with this freedom of yours. Do not cause a brother or sister with a weaker conscience to stumble."
1 Corinthians 8:13 "If what I eat is going to make another Christian sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live--for I don't want to make another Christian stumble."
And even Proverbs has nothing positive about wine:
Proverbs 20:1 "Wine produces mockers; liquor leads to brawls. Whoever is led astray by drink cannot be wise."
Proverbs 21:17 "Those who love pleasure become poor; wine and luxury are not the way to riches."
Proverbs 23:31 "Don't let the sparkle and smooth taste of wine deceive you."
Proverbs 31:4 "And it is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave liquor."
Proverbs 31:6 "Liquor is for the dying, and wine for those in deep depression."
May we each do what gives us peace in our hearts and glorifies JESUS CHRIST as we obey the Spirit of God in this matter.