LIFESTYLE CHOICES | LifeLink

LifeLink Devotions for Tuesday, June 23, 2026

As we start immediately’s devotions I’m compelled to remind you that if we need to grow to be folks of knowledge then we have to be in search of God’s knowledge and never man’s. That requires the sacrifice of worldly pursuits, rules, and passions for the sake of ethical purity in Christ.  Today’s topic might nicely reveal greater than another whether or not or not we’re keen to grow to be individuals who pursue Christ above all else. 

Proverbs 23:19-21 “Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”

One of essentially the most divisive and harmful points within the native church immediately is over using alcoholic drinks. Is ingesting a sin, or is simply drunkenness the sin? Should we or shouldn’t we use them? If we imagine it’s okay to drink moderately, what constitutes moderation? Do now we have any duty to God or to others after we make our determination? These are all questions which might be requested and argued by all of us from the younger in Christ to the mature.

I pray that as I tackle this matter that our hearts will probably be open to listening to the voice of God. My need is that each one our life-style decisions wouldn’t solely replicate the knowledge of God by being morally pure, however that they might be motivated by a pure love for Jesus and never love for self.

First, the Bible doesn’t name ingesting a sin. I tackle this concern first as a result of it’s the concern that I imagine causes the most important downside in educating others a real Biblical place on this topic. It is unsuitable to name one thing a sin that God has not referred to as sin. When we attempt to conform one other particular person’s habits by means of untruth that now we have referred to as fact, we create riot within the different particular person in opposition to all fact. When our youngsters develop to an age of understanding fact for themselves, they could reject what now we have mentioned as a result of we tried to control them right into a sure sort of habits. Let’s simply inform them the reality. Jesus carried out His first miracle by turning water into wine, and we all know it was alcoholic wine as a result of the host of the occasion mentioned so. (John 2:9-10)

Having mentioned that, there are some very sturdy statements in Scripture about using alcoholic drinks, and a number of other of them are proper right here in Proverbs. Let’s have a look at what is claimed:

1. It is just not sensible to hitch with those that drink an excessive amount of, as a result of it is going to result in laziness and poverty.

2. Choosing to not be a part of with them will maintain our hearts on the proper path. Everything about our relationship with Jesus Christ begins within the coronary heart. When we need to hitch with those that drink an excessive amount of it exhibits that we’re depending on the world to offer us with worth and never on God. Why would we who’re joined to Christ have any want or need to hunt acceptance and approval from the world by becoming a member of with them? Our life-style decisions reveal the extent of our sincerity and safety of our id in Christ.

3. According to Proverbs 23:29-35, the implications of ingesting an excessive amount of are extreme – woe, sorrow, strife, complaints, bruises, and bloodshot eyes. Who wants any of these issues? Just choose up any newspaper and also you don’t must learn very far earlier than you come to a narrative of an accident, a combat, an assault, a divorce, or a demise that’s the direct results of alcohol. We should take into account fastidiously the implications, not just for ourselves, but in addition within the lives of others round us.

4. We every should fastidiously consider our coronary heart by asking some robust questions after which reply them actually. The Proverbs 23:29-35 passage tells us what these questions needs to be:

Do I’ve an growing curiosity about alcoholic drinks? Do we linger over the beverage, and wish to strive extra and completely different varieties? Be cautious, curiosity killed the cat, and we don’t have 9 lives to offer. We have just one life to offer, and I select to offer it to the glory of God. 

Do I discover myself wanting alcohol due to the short-term advantages it supplies? Do I exploit it to alleviate ache or to supply pleasure in any method? Do not stare upon wine when it’s crimson, when it sparkles within the cup. Why ought to alcohol be the escape from the issues of life, or the producer of enjoyment in life? When will I get up so I can discover one other drink?” Doesn’t this reveal a coronary heart situation that wants the therapeutic contact of Jesus? The Apostle John says, “Love not the world, neither the things in the world…for these shall all pass away.” On what does your coronary heart actually rely for peace and hope?

Do I discover myself having fun with the style? Proverbs says to watch out when it goes down easily! Just as a result of we prefer it doesn’t make it useful or proper. If that argument was legitimate, then let’s use it for different issues we like as nicely, like intercourse. Sex is true solely within the context of marriage, and when that purity is maintained it honors God. Each of us should decide in what context, if any, ingesting is true and honoring to God.

There is a lot extra that could possibly be mentioned from different passages of Scripture regarding our duty to honor God in the whole lot – particularly within the space of the care of our temple of the Holy Spirit and our privilege to replicate the love and beauty of Jesus to others. But I need us to think about fastidiously the three questions above, and consider our decisions with regard to this concern. When you make your selection, make it in prayer earlier than the throne of God, and guarantee that your selection doesn’t in any method dishonor Him or exalt your self over Him in any method. He is Lord, and is there any worldly sacrifice too nice to make for our King?

Pastor John