Don’t be drunk with wine,
because that will ruin your life. Instead,
be filled with the
Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18 (NLT)
If you’re driving along Route 360, about
30 miles south of Richmond, VA, you’ll pass Drunkard Road. I can’t imagine what they were thinking.
As I had a long drive ahead of me
there was plenty of time to ponder what kind of mind would come up with a name
like Drunkard Road? Almost certainly it wasn’t
a real estate broker who named that street.
After all, cute is cute, but a name like that can’t do much for property
values. Living on a street reserved for “drunkards”
conjures up pictures of staggering, sloppy and obnoxious.
As I re-read the last sentence (to
see how it would sound) I was gripped with fear that the sensitivity-police
might come and lock me up. So let me disclose
that I am in complete and compassionate solidarity with those attempting to
find release from the bondage of alcoholism.
I also stand with other sinners of all kinds who despise their sin and
wish to break the chains of addiction. This
includes liars, gluttons, abusers, sexual sinners, thieves and all the rest you
can name.
I condemn no person (that’s above my
pay grade); I’m a fellow-sinner seeking forgiveness and cleansing. However, having said that, I am fully
inclined and committed to naming sin as sin.
Staggering, sloppy and obnoxious behavior follows drunkenness as surely
as mold comes from standing water.
But the important distinction here is
the difference between behavior and trap. Addiction is the “trap” that cripples an addicted
person. Tobacco, alcohol and other
addictive substances have chemicals that trap or bind a person’s nervous system
as well as their thoughts and emotions. There’s
little room left for choice. That’s why
Scripture warns against “drunkenness” of any kind – it muddies the waters of free
choice. It takes away the freedom to
choose wisely, one of the characteristics which define our symbiosis with God’s
image.
Behavior is what we choose to do. And choosing to associate oneself with
addiction is never a smart, Godly choice.
It’s like living on Drunkard Road; you might not be one, but you’re
flirting with it. And, like my (and
your) Mother used to say – when you lie close to the dog, you’re going to get
up with fleas.
Now, having stated the obvious in
several ways up to this point, let me cut to the chase:
It is fruitless
and unkind to blame or condemn people caught in the trap of addiction. They need help out of the trap.
It is just as
foolish, if not sinful to remain silent when loved ones are on the verge of
behavior that will land them in the trap. They need
a strong warning to stay out of the trap.
For You, Today…
Got a loved one
who’s flirting with the trap, or in the trap?
Are you flirting
with the trap, or in it?
Scripture warns….Loving
people help
See how God
provides all we need?
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