A few weekends ago, me and my love went to Amish country. We were celebrating our 6th marriage anniversary. A few days before leaving I had this thought "When we get there, we could get some wine at a local shop to toast our marriage and celebrate. No one knows us there so we wouldn't feel like we had to hide our purchase or look over our shoulder".
Now, before I continue, let me say one thing... The Bible truly isn't black and white clear on if drinking is a sin or not. There are scriptures that say its good in moderation, there are theologians that say there was a difference between fermented juice (alcoholic) and just fruit juice. What I'm about to state is how feel the Lord has spoke to me and why we did NOT buy wine and opted for Sparkling White Grape Juice instead.
There are things that the Bible says is sin, plain and simple and then there are things that tradition and society has stated Christians can't/shouldn't/don't do. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure 100% where alchohol falls... but I do know this....
Do not drink excessively (Ephesians 5:18)
If doing something (even though it isn't a sin) will ill effect another, don't do it (Romans 14)
The office of a Preacher/Bishop/Deacon is not to drink (I Timothy 3)
That last one is my biggest reason why I don't drink wine. I feel God has called me to preach. If I want to get as high in God as I can... I need to hold myself to that standard.
Do I like wine? Yes. My mouth waters sometimes when I walk by that aisle at the store. Will I give into that temptation? No. I have a higher calling and if abstaining from that brings me closer to God and helps others to know Christ then not drinking wine (or any other alcohol) is something I'm more than happy to do.
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