Dear Readers in Christ, "Draw near to GOD, and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).

Friday 17 May 2013

May 17 - DON’T DECEIVE YOURSELF

“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red” (Prov 23:31).


Some people who drink (alcohol) take the words of St. Paul in I Timothy 5:23 and say that a little wine is good for the stomach. But look at the previous verse (vs 22): “Keep thyself pure.” The original word for ‘wine’ used here (please check Young’s Concordance) means ‘pure grape juice’. When the Word of God very clearly says that looking upon wine (with a desire) is a sin, how much more sinful it would be to drink even a drop!

There was once a child of God who sincerely desired to please God in everything. One day it was his birthday and his daughter bought a cake and presented it to him. He tasted a little and realized that there was some alcoholic percentage in it. Still, not wanting to offend his daughter, he ate a little and left the rest of it in the fridge. That night he had a dream. He was going to heaven, and on the border he had to pass the customs. The customs officer opened his box and, finding a big bottle of liquor in it, pointed to a prison and said, “That is the place for you.” With that, the child of God woke up. The Lord then told him that he was guilty of eating the cake knowing it had an alcoholic ingredient. Immediately he repented and threw away the cake. In later years he became a great man of God.

Dear child of God, don’t deceive yourself. Perhaps, in your home, there is, not a cake with alcoholic ingredient, but a liquor bottle, a television set, some novels or some worldly magazines. Right now, sincerely repent and remove any such unholy thing from your house – so that it may not prevent you from reaching heaven.
 
– Taken from Morning Manna – Thoughts for Daily Devotion

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