insidious.

i'm pretty sure the state of drunkenness and what it brings are the manifestation of everything that is wrong with man.

my friends know that i drink alcohol. my house has a big cabinet stocked with most hard liquors - several bottles of vodka, whiskey, rum, gin, martini, brandy, XO etc. and we have a fridge stocked with bottles and bottles of red wine, white wine, rose, champagne and beer.

at home, we have wine with dinners. we pop champagne when there's a special occasion (like my 21st party). and when friends come over, we mix some cocktails and chill. alcohol with the right mixers, alcohol with the right food, alcohol cooked with the right ingredients, can be a great delight and an art form to appreciate.

today i saw in the newspapers, photos of people passing out - dead drunk - on the beaches of sentosa from zouk out. the article reported that even when puke was everywhere, a guy was quoted, saying what's a party without drunk people?

how is randomly making out with some guy, or waking up with puke-stained clothes fun and exciting?

through my stay in hall and elsewhere, i've witnessed just about everything that's wrong with mankind. ok not everything. but i've seen excessive amounts of alcohol breaking up relationships, tarnishing reputations, and causing otherwise-sane-and-nice people to fall into the clutches of the evil one and sinning.

it all becomes real when the worst happens to someone you love - falling down a flight of stairs, a pool of blood around the head, skull cracked, 2-day coma and a life changed forever.

and the more insidious thing about this - is that our society thinks it's ok. it's ok to consume all that alcohol in the name of having fun, relaxing, or drowning one's troubles. all that peer pressure is the devil's way of ensnaring us. his ways are subtle, inconspicuous, and disguised in the name of innocence and fun.

as i grow older (and grow in my faith and knowledge of the Lord's Word), i see the depth of the words of life, i see how it applies to my life, and how uplifting it is. some time ago at ypg, pastor mitch challenged us to memorise 2 verses, out of which 1 is this one below. it really amazes me how the same verse can mean different things to you at different points of your life.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
Hebrews 12:1

and now that this verse is in my heart, i shall resolve to lay aside the sin which so easily ensnares us, and to run the race of life looking to Jesus. and my prayer for all to do the same, and not let these sins rule their lives. excessive alcohol included.