For some wine, alcoholic beverages are problematic. The effects are devastating. For those people perhaps the brief thoughts here might best be skipped.
Recently I was listening to a podcast on wine and struck by the story of Noah after the flood.
Genesis 9:20-21 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent.
Two verses and two thoughts.
A vineyard is not something you plant in the short term. Grains bear food within the season. Wine takes years to be something worth drinking. Noahs act of planting the vineyard was an act of faith. God would no longer flood the earth. It was time to plant something which would take years. The future for Noah and his family was assured. Wine would be something they could look forward to in years to come as his sons and their wives had children, then grandchildren. This wine would be enjoyed as they celebrated life and goodness and Gods provision.
The second thought involves the folly of wine. Noah became drunk, he was naked and the story would not have a good ending. In this moment Noah has taken what was a provision and a joy, and a sign of promise, and misused it. Does the misuse cancel out the faith and the joy? No. But it is a reminder. To celebrate the good things given from God, but not to misuse them.
The first miracle Jesus performed was to make wine. The best wine for the best occasion, a wedding. He drunk wine as He and His disciples anticipated what would be Jesus’ worst day. He will drink it again with His disciples when He returns. Most references to wine are positive in the Bible. I think back to my conservative bible college days when we were told the wine Jesus drank was non-alcoholic fruit juice. For a college which prided itself on Biblical authority, it sure took liberties with the reality of the text and the story.
Celebrate, enjoy, be grateful. Don’t be silly.
