BBD 07.22.04 The Sting Of A Viper - Part 2
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
like to encourage you to visit this great site at http://www.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
http://www.christianpost.com.
The Burning Bush Devotional
(Over 13,000 subscribers in 75 countries)
07.22.04
The Sting Of A Viper - Part 2
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who
has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at
the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when
it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at
the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will
see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. - Proverbs
23:29-33.
I’ve heard of drunken airline passengers, drunk airline pilots, and just
drunk pilots. However, they had something new on a flight from Moscow to the
Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk. The airline attendants were drunk and beat
up a passenger who complained. Another passenger reported that half the food
the attendants served ended up on the floor. There is an investigation being
conducted into their behavior and it is doubtful they will be serving food
and beating up anymore passengers anytime soon.
While I was a parole officer I supervised a murderer who once warned me that
if he ever started drinking to stay away from him because he was a “mean
drunk”. He was drunk when he committed his offense so I did take his warning
seriously. Thankfully, he never relapsed into drinking while he was under my
supervision.
Recently when I was at the drive-thru window of a McDonalds (My son loves
their hamburgers.) I was shocked by the overwhelming smell of alcohol when I
put my window down. I did not complain about the intoxicated young man who
handed us our order. However, someone must have because I have not seen him
since.
Alcohol abuse is a serious problem for businesses, which is not only costly
in monetary terms; it is even more costly in the devastation it wrecks to
those who abuse alcohol and their families. Many are simply unable to stay
employed because of their problem. As a result, they and their families
experience poverty and stress in every area of their lives.
Job loss and financial hardship is terrible for those who are going through
it. Those things, however, are of minor consequence compared to those who
are the “mean drunks” committing violent offenses while under the influence
from beatings to murder. There are also those who while not necessarily
“mean drunks” have their judgment impaired and get behind the wheel of their
cars. The result has been countless innocent lives lost in the wake of an
addiction out of control.
If you have a problem with alcohol abuse I urge you to find help before some
terrible thing happens in your life. It will happen if you do not stop! If
you are a Christian, you know this is wrong. Why? “…do not be unwise, but
understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in
which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-18).”
When you are drunk, you are not controlled by the Holy Spirit. No, you are
controlled by alcohol, which will only bring about woe, sorrows,
contentions, complaints, wounds, and you find that you have been stung by
the viper. If you have an alcohol problem, you know it is only too true. Now
is the time to seek the Lord with all your heart and being for He is the
only One that can truly help you.
Copyright © 2004. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email
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