Skip to main content

Drunkenness

             Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. (I Peter 1:13)

Drunk: affected by alcohol to the extent of losing control of one's faculties or behavior

Someone who is sober is not drunk. Yes, sober is also used to describe something that is muted in color or that is serious, somber, and altogether not fun. I’m pretty sure those last two definitions were developed by people trying to justify drunkenness with its reduction of control. The first definition is the key. To be sober is to not be drunk, to not be affected …to the extent of losing control of one’s faculties or behavior. Alcohol is not the only substance that produces that lack of control. Other drugs and toxins do. I’m going to suggest that emotions and physical or mental illness can, too. Moods (pervasive emotions) like doubt and pride should be added to the list. To be fair, nicotine, caffeine, sugar and food may all fall into the same category. They may not be as extreme, but they dull, excite, or addict the mind in a way that removes some measure of sense and self-control.

Why is this so important? Because when you lose control of your faculties or behavior, you lose your ability to hope wisely or well. Either for the time that you are under the influence, or in life in general, your hope slips to the thing that inebriated you, or to things you allow to connect with you while inebriated.

To put it bluntly, hope is hard. Too many things distract us. They interfere with our faculties and negatively influence our behavior, frequently luring our hopes to them instead of to Christ, making them the source of our hope and addicting us to the lies they offer. If you are putting your hope in something else, when it fails or Jesus returns, while you may welcome the grace revealed, if you were hoping for something else, will you be as happy as if you were hoping for Jesus? (Ouch.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more