Proverbs 31: 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink;
5 Lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart.
7 Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
5 Lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart.
7 Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
Proverbs 31: 4-7. Talk about an endorsement! With Lemuel and his mother speaking in this
passage, we have a king, a former prince, a queen, and a woman who fought for
her place as 1st lady of the nation all endorsing the message: Getting drunk is not a
good look for success. Getting high
is not what you do if you want to stay on top.
God blesses people to attain success and power so
that they can use their success and power to help others. The chemicals make you forget that. The chemicals make you selfish, immoral, and
unjust. The buzz and the high draw you off
the path of God’s favor and place you on track for destruction. Outside of God’s favor there is personal and
spiritual poverty. Outside of God favor
there is misery. Outside of God’s favor
there is death in spirit and in truth.
The sad irony is that the closer you get to bottom
(to the point of perishing) the more miserable
you become and the more you need the buzz to forget how poor and miserable you’re
becoming. And yes, while the chemicals
are active in your system, you do forget; but you don’t change. You’re still impoverished. You’re still pitiful. You’re still dying.
And the kings and queens of the culture look down on
you and say, “He’s got nothing else. Let
him have another drink. She’s not doing
anything with her life anyway. Pass her
another blunt. But oh, no. Nothing for me. I have a meeting in the morning.”
It doesn’t matter how you categorize your drug of
choice. It doesn’t matter if it’s liquid or leafy, synthetic or “social,”
packaged or prescribed. If it’s intoxicating then it’s not helping you
succeed. It’s holding you back.
Since you’ve been intoxicating yourself, you’ve not
gotten better have you? Your
relationships aren’t more stable are they?
For all the stuff you’ve dreamed you haven’t actually achieved anything
more, have you?
And when you look closely at the bottle-popping,
drug-passing imagery you notice that the ones who are fully intoxicated are in
the background, servants to the one pouring into their glasses or sitting sober
and clear-headed while everybody else gets drunk and high, trying to forget how
successful they are not.
Yeah, I know what the songs say. But pay
more attention to what God says.
Pay more attention.
If you want to be a king, if you want to be a queen
-------- you’ve gotta get sober.
---Anderson
T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in
Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking
Organization (SAYNO) and
director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human
Development (NIHD).
To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more
about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
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