You Need a Drink!

The great German reformer, Martin Luther told one man, “You should never touch a drop of alcohol.” Then turned to the man sitting beside him and said, “You, on the other hand, need a drink!”

Luther was living out one of the apostle Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians:

“I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” – but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lords, and everything in it.”

If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. (Jesus challenged the Dietary laws.) But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” (something very common at the time this was written) then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:23-31).

Freedom for the sake of love. For the sake of others. For the sake of God’s glory. I can do this or refrain. As I genuinely love, I’m free to choose.

Exactly what kind of God is this? 

I’m real because God is so real.
~Nancy