by Jeff Larson, The Back Pew
“The Scriptures say, ‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit’ (Eph. 5:18). Nothing casts off restraint in life like alcohol. It’s a known fact that where alcohol runs high, morals run low. The brother of alcohol is excess. But God doesn’t expect us to live in a vacuum; if there is an intemperance forbidden, there is an intemperance commanded. So the antidote to alcohol’s excess is not moderation. We aren’t built for moderation because of our sinful natures, but for complete immoderation – intemperance. Therefore, the antidote to alcohol’s excesses is to be filled instead with the Spirit of God – to lose ourselves in a consuming passion for him. When we are filled with the Spirit, we thirst for no other spirits and plunged into a holy intemperance.”
-Rev. Mark Creech