Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Listen, my son, and be wise,
    and set your heart on the right path:
Do not join those who drink too much wine
    or gorge themselves on meat,
for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
    and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

• Proverbs 23:19-21

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Ephesians 5:17-20

The Boilerplate

My wife took a Bible Study in 2009.  She had become a Christian in 2000, and about the time that she took this class during the week at night, she developed night blindness, or at least the start of it.  I would drive her to a friend’s house, and then the friend would drive her home afterwards.  The focus on the Bible Study was weight loss from a biblical perspective.  I don’t know if any weight was lost by anyone in the Bible Study, but a few members of that group became very good friends.

My wife passed away in March and I found her study guide as I was cleaning up.  I actually found two study guides.  The other study guide was from a Bible study long before committing herself to Jesus.  Her answers were usually copying Scripture or turning the Scripture into her own words.  This Bible Study in 2009 showed signs of how God was working in her life.  It showed Christian growth.

So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I decided to write on the topics in the Study Guide, but instead of using the words of the Study Guide, I thought I would fashion the answers of her questions into a thread to discuss the topic.  And I will not use any comment about other members of the group study (few, and usually prayer requests).  That would be confidential.  Thus, I am writing about these topics “with a little help” from my wife’s answers to study guide questions.

Discussion on this topic

“Don’t overindulge whether food, drink, or anything else.  Everything in moderation.”

• My wife’s ideas about the first Scripture above

But why do we fall short?

“Poor in our spirit, not being able to listen to the Holy Spirit.”

• My wife’s additional ideas about the first Scripture above

Again, the Bible study is about weight loss the biblical way, but my wife is taking it to heart in all areas of her life, maybe even having more success in other areas of her life in that multiple health issues, that surfaced later on, would make weight loss nearly impossible.

In the Proverbs Scripture, it focuses on drunkenness and gluttony, but we need to look at everything in moderation, not just food and drink.

Now in my seventies, I do not drink, other than a very rare glass of wine.  But when it comes to eating, I have found that a full meal at lunch is usually followed by a nap.  And sadly, when I awake from the nap, my head is fuzzy and writing is next to impossible.  So, my intake at mealtime may be similar to years ago, but over the course of the day it is reduced when I have a lot of writing to do.  I simply focus on the task at hand and I never get hungry.  I have a harder time writing in moderation than I do in eating in moderation.

“I’m alert and aware of Satan’s temptations and watch now diligently.”

• My wife’s additional ideas about the first Scripture above

I am not sure she was fully aware of everything that Satan can do, but how many of us are not aware of the temptations that we face?  How often do we fall prey to those temptations because we have not had a good night’s sleep, or we just received bad news from a relative, or the check really did get lost in the mail?

I have heard it said that Satan’s tricks have not changed in all these thousands of years, but the window dressing around the trick changes as often as the direction of the wind.

“You miss opportunities and not understand God’s Will for you.  We’re too busy trying to compete with the world and its desires rather than God’s Will.  Don’t get drunk on wine.  It can lead to debauchery.”

• My wife’s ideas about the second Scripture above

But what is this debauchery?

“[Debauchery is] extreme indulgence of one’s appetite – dissipation, leading astray morally.”

• My wife’s inner thoughts

But if we are to lead others along the right path, how does debauchery cause us to fail?

“By tempting others to join you in excessiveness.”

• My wife’s inner thoughts

And how can we resist?

“Be filled with the Holy Spirit.  We speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in our hearts, giving thanks to God in everything.  We reinforce ourselves with [songs] by listening to [recorded music], reading the Bible, and allowing God to work in our hearts.”

• My wife’s inner thoughts

My wife was a songbird.  She had a song in her mind most of the time, and she loved to sing.  Her breathing problems, diagnosed with COPD, prevented her from joining the choir in her last years, but at one point, she was part of 2-3 community choirs and the church choir.  And if there weren’t enough to sing first soprano, second soprano, or alto, she could join any of those groups to contribute.

And how can we lead others and not have them go astray?

“We encourage others by following God’s will and praising Him.  By showing love to others and not tearing them down.  Directing them to the Word and words of comfort.”

• My wife’s inner thoughts

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory