The Heart of a Homemaker | Not Enslaved to Much Wine

The original post can be found here. I wrote this post when I was (sadly) still in a very judgmental period in my life. I had just come out of an environment where the public appearance of a person and how spiritual they were went hand in hand with each other. Five years (and a deeper relationship with the Lord later), I don't view a person's level of spirituality based on how many "do's" you do and how many "don'ts" you avoid. God speaks to us and reaches us where we are at any given point in our lives. He works with us at the speed He knows is good for us to grow. Where I believe that there are many things that He blatantly says no to, there are some areas that He speaks to us individually.

This passage mentions a particular aspect which has different views and convictions by so many believers in the Christian community. The "should Christians drink or not" is a sermon for someone else to preach on another day. Right now, I am looking at this passage and taking the lesson that God taught me where I am right now concerning the heart of a homemaker.

"...nor enslaved to much wine..."

The word enslaved means: to make a slave of; reduce to slavery. Some related words are: enchain, shackle; control, dominate.

We have heard the phrases "Everything in moderation" and "Too much of a good thing is too much." I think these basic principles apply in all situations of our lives, except when we are dealing with our time with the Lord. Then the phrase "the more the merrier" kicks in.

So what is the lesson to be learned from this phrase?

Are there things in our lives that can enslave, enchain, control, and dominate us?

How much time do we spend in front of-
the T.V.
computer
reading books that entertain or cause us to fantasize about anything but reality
or at the table with food
or (gulp!) multiple cups of coffee?

We can become enslaved to-
money
fashion
food
Face Book
Pinterest
clothes
home décor
shopping
and a whole host of things that keep us from doing our jobs as women, wives, and mothers.

In all honesty, my "thing" is coffee. I never drank it until I became a teacher. I had one class in particular that kept me on my toes from the moment they first walked into the room. Eleven high maintenance boys, most of whom were "only" children and were used to getting their own way (you can only guess what recess was like!) and five sweet but starting to experience changes girls (but for the most part, they were a calm in the midst of the raging storm). No amount of sleep I got was enough to get me through the day, and that is how my love of coffee began.

Is coffee bad?

No. However, I had gotten to the point (before my pregnancy with Addie) where I could drink a whole pot in one day. Why? Because it was there. However, during my pregnancy and the first six weeks after Addie was born, I cut back to one cup a day. Do I need coffee at all hours of the day? No. Do I drink coffee at all hours of the day? I can and sometimes do, if it is available. Do I need to drink coffee at all hours of the day? No, I don't. Then why do I? Good question!

And that is what God is teaching me through this lesson. I need to purposely hold myself accountable to drink only one or two cups a day. Why? Because I do not want to be enslaved to it. I do not want to be controlled by a liquid. (Quite honestly, I get a migraine if I do not drink a cup in the morning and a cup in the evening. In between contractions the morning Addie was born, I was asking the nurse for a cup of coffee because I did not want a migraine.) I want to be able to say "No, thank you" when I am offered a cup of coffee that I don't need.

Let us make sure that we learn to apply the fruit of the Spirit of self-control. Let us strive to control the "things" in our lives instead of allowing them to control us. In our own power we can do nothing, but "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4.