Three reasons why I don’t drink

December 29, 2006

By William E. Richardson

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1, NKJV).

I’ll admit, I’ve never been drunk. I’ve never wanted to be. Ongoing facts and figures and the evidence I’ve witnessed agree against it. There are three main reasons why I don’t drink.

One reason is because alcohol consumption is too seductive. One drink easily leads to another. In only a few minutes, drinking lowers a person’s resistance to certain behaviors. Alcohol wields an unpredictable influence. I refuse to submit control of my mind and actions to its seductiveness.

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). That makes it impossible for me to surrender my will to the Holy Spirit and alcohol at the same time.

Another reason I don’t drink is because alcohol ruins lives. Before pastoring, I counseled at a Teen Challenge center. Part of my job was to help men whose alcoholic addiction had cost them their money, their jobs, their most important relationships, and their dignity.

Proverbs 23:21 warns, “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.” That poverty wears many kinds of faces.

The third reason I don’t drink is because alcohol kills. It took the life of one of my grandfathers. After his own struggle with alcoholism, he died at age 38 when a drunk driver hit his car.

In 2004, alcohol caused nearly 17,000 deaths on U.S highways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figured that to be 39 percent of all traffic deaths for the year. That’s one alcohol-related death about every half hour.

Alcohol kills in other ways. Its power is responsible for 70 percent of violent crimes, including murder. Recurring statistics also tell us that from 20-30 percent of all suicides are attributed to alcohol. Every year, alcohol leads to the death of tens of thousands of unsuspecting victims.

With that first drink, no one anticipates such problems. Too often people fall for the claim that just one drink will help them relax or help them cope. One drink has become the first drink leading so many into an ocean of alcohol. It’s hard to swim, and many have drowned.

Through the centuries, Proverbs 20:1 has proven to be true: Alcohol deceives you, then mocks you. It seduces, ruins lives and kills. Reasons enough for me not to drink.

William E. Richardson is senior pastor of Afton (Iowa) Assembly of God.