Sunday, May 31, 2026
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).
If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?
Dear young reader, abstain from all drugs and alcohol. Cigarettes and vapes contain poisonous, addictive chemicals that increase the risk of various cancers (mouth, throat, tongue, et cetera). Intoxicating beverages shrink the brain, destroy the liver, stress out the heart, and negatively affect the stomach. All these products age the body, people ending up ill in a hospital or prematurely dead in a morgue. Frankly, you can locate millions of individuals today whose bodies are permanently disfigured or ruined because of drugs and alcohol (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:30)—missing limbs, blindness, extensive scarring, cirrhosis, brain damage, and a plethora of additional health complications. Some are even doomed to live with the knowledge of having taken other’s lives. I have a friend who repeatedly overdosed on illegal drugs, almost dying on those occasions. A lady I knew smoked cigarettes for 50 years, nearly perished because of diminished lung capacity, quit smoking, and then spent her last 20 years finding it increasingly harder to breathe!
Since it is human nature to seek entertainment—to be thrilled, frightened, delighted, and so on—drugs and alcoholic beverages are tremendously appealing. Yet, Paul the Apostle reasoned: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power [mastery, control, domination] of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Indeed, there is freedom under grace, but the absence of an express prohibition does not necessarily mean an action is “expedient” (profitable, useful, beneficial). Once identified, any and all addictions should be avoided. As opposed to being under the influence of wine (or any other mind-altering substance/addiction), the Holy Spirit should control our thinking and conduct: “See then that ye walk circumspectly [cautiously, looking around], not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;…” (Ephesians 5:15-18).
NOTE: In order to bring you a special study tomorrow (a commemoration of 15 full years of “333 Words of Grace!”), we will temporarily break away from this devotionals arc….
333 Words of Grace 