The Way To Rags

My child, listen and be wise:Keep your heart on the right course.Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,for they are on their way to poverty,and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

Proverbs 23:19-21

This proverb addresses us as: my child. Jesus said we are to be childlike. But that doesn’t mean childish. Look around. We live in a society that will not grow up. Sadly, I have been dealing with a single mom who hasn’t. After her divorce she plunged into the party lifestyle. Her new set of friends were loud and obnoxious. Her children have not only suffered, but they are embarrassed by her. Her house is dirty and shabby. Her kids wish she would shape up and grow up.

One alcoholic writes, “I had over forty jobs. I’d work like mad for weeks without a drink, pay a few bills, and then reward myself with alcohol. Then I’d be broke again, hiding out in cheap hotels all over the country.”

Is there an antidote? The best antidote for addiction is preventive medicine. “Listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course.” Stay away from the group at the office who invite you to go out for a few drinks. Those few drinks lead to a few more drinks.

If you have been compromising—whether it’s with alcohol, street drugs, or prescription drugs—will you ask the Lord to help you wake up and grow up? You can’t keep blaming it on things and people in the past. The mercies of God are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23, NIV). God himself is ready to help.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

One of Satan’s tactics is to make you feel too ashamed or too hopeless to admit you need help. But admitting that we are in over our heads and that our flesh is stronger than us is always the first step to turning to God in desperation. “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t” (Romans 7:18).

Let’s Pray

God, I come to you weary and weak. Please be my strength and mighty Savior. One day at a time, walk me to wholeness and restoration.

One Year Bible Reading

Isaiah 28:14–30:11; Galatians 3:23–4:31; Psalm 62:1-12; Proverbs 23:19-21