Better to drink it than crave it

One of the best friends I ever had was a man who has long since departed this earth.  He was a prince of a guy.  He never saw a stranger and would literally give you the shirt off his back.  He was dependable and you could always count on him.  His word was his bond. I would have trusted him with my life.  

He had only one fault—he liked to take a drink, but he limited it to once a month.  Just like clockwork, on the 3^rd day of the month, when the postman delivered his social security check, he would high tail it to the liquor store and come away with two big quarts of Ancient Age bourbon.  

He would sit down at his kitchen table and proceed to imbibe the spirits. He would quaff down several ounces of bourbon each time, followed by a swig of coke.  As the fiery elixir spewed down his esophagus, he would close his eyes and grit his teeth as if he were dying, his face turning red as a beet.  After he recovered seconds later, he would pat his stomach and say with a big smile, “That was so good!”  

My friend made a few tactical errors under the influence, most notably was driving away from a service station in his old Nash Rambler with the gas hose still connected to his fuel tank.  The police didn’t lock him up, but his brother had to come to the police station to bring him home.  

Once I asked my friend why he drank.  His reply was, “The good book says it’s better to drink it than to crave it.”  I haven’t found this reference in the scriptures, but many people will justify their drinking by referring to various passages in the Bible.  One most prominently used was Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding in Canaan.  Another was Paul’s suggestion to Timothy that he take a ‘little’ wine for his infirmities.

Human flesh and alcohol just don’t mix.  You could actually petrify human organs if left in a solution of alcohol.  That’s exactly what liquor does —it petrifies the body.  Drink enough of it, long enough and you will begin to shrink up.  Alcohol poisons you; it destroys internal organs like the liver, pancreas, kidneys, etc. and kills brain cells by the millions.  Actuarial studies by insurance companies conclude that “the more you drink the quicker you die.”

Proverbs warns: “Do no gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!  In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.  Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things.” Isaiah adds “Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.” Ephesians 5.18 concludes: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the spirit.”