Abusing Your Blessings

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.

Joel 1:5

Why should the drunkards weep? Because they won’t have any wine to drink.

In chapter 1 of his book, Joel has been describing a great invasion of locusts that has devastated Judah, consuming everything in the land. The destruction of Judah's harvest was so complete that the locusts had not only eaten the fruit, but had also stripped the bark off the vines and fig trees. Now, all that was left were naked, white branches and vines.

This affected everyone in Judah... from the richest and highest in the land to the poorest and lowest. But Joel pauses in verse 5 to specifically address the drunkard. Why?  

Well, it's certainly possible that in their drunken stupor the drunkards had not noticed what was going on around them and were now in for a rude awakening. But I also find it interesting, that drunkenness is the only sin directly mentioned in the book of Joel.* Perhaps, the drunkards serve as a warning to us of what can happen when we take God’s blessings (that He provided for our good and His glory) and we abuse them and use them for sin. If we do that, then we can't be surprised when He takes those blessings away from us.

Are you abusing any of the good things God has given to you? Are you turning any of God’s gifts into sin? Is wine, or money, or food, or sex, or your own comfort and prosperity becoming a source of sin in your life? If so, then don’t be surprised if He takes them away.

*Dillard, Raymond B. “Joel.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:618–24. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995.