Raising Kids in the Age of Foolishness

There are enough fools in the world!

Raising Kids in the Age of Foolishness: Drinking Advice #2 Excess

Avoiding Excess Is a Mark of Wisdom

•             “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” — Proverbs 23:20–21

I have already expressed my conviction about being a teetotaler but if drinking in moderation is your thing, it seems to be allowed in Scripture, though you will find many who will debate you fiercely on that point. I am not sure where the line is between enough and too much. What I fear is that the closer the person gets to the line the less he can even see the line. There is great damage done over the line. When you couple these instructions about alcohol and include drugs society has paid a steep price for the freedom to imbibe.

This passage should make all of us a little nervous. Gorging ourselves on food is equal to drinking too much. I understand bartenders can cut off the guy at the bar when he thinks he has had enough. Imagine if our waiter could tell us we could not order that double-chocolate brownie with two scoops of ice cream. “Sir, you have had enough tonight. Go home and sleep it off.” We rebel against the food and drink police. When a person becomes a glutton and a drunkard, as Jesus was accused of becoming, people look down on such folks for their lack of self-control. “He can’t hold his liquor.” “That person needs to exercise by pushing back from the table.” Too much drink and too much food make one sleepy, and sleep leads to poverty. It forms a vicious cycle.

Parents must teach their children to have the good sense to say “enough.” My wife taught our kids this lesson by allowing them to eat ice cream for breakfast one day. They kept bugging her about doing so. When lunch rolled around, she offered them ice cream again, which they eagerly accepted. This continued for several more meals, until they were begging for vegetables. I don’t recommend this with alcohol. Halloween is a good time to teach moderation lessons. Then there is Thanksgiving followed by Christmas. My mother would say as I reached for that fourth piece of chicken, “Don’t make yourself sick. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” I had two older brothers, and I wanted to be able to eat as much as they could. That was stupid. I know I learned the lesson about alcohol because I always rejected the idea of being mentally impaired. I am still working on the food thing. GURDS will cure you of GORGE.