methe

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“Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be.” William Hazlitt

“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” (Luke 21:34-35 KJV)

During the last weeks of Jesus’ ministry he spent much time teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. As I study his teachings I find them to be quite different from the teachings that took place early in His ministry. Early on He taught about how to live peaceably and honestly with God, our fellow man, and with ourselves. Later on He gave personal warnings as He taught. It wasn’t so much about loving your neighbor, loving your enemies, being faithful to your spouse, or being blessed by giving of yourself, it was more about how we could end up if we don’t pay attention to spiritual matters. Jesus said to “take heed to yourselves.” This means to spend time in self-examination and to listen to our hearts. If we don’t, our hearts will be overcharged. Ever been overcharged for something? I have and it is a feeling that develops into resentments that could grow into anger. Jesus said we could be “overcharged with surfeiting.” What is surfeiting? Webster defines it as overindulgence. The Greek word used here is kraipale which is a medical term used for nausea after overindulgence in food and drink. Jesus then states that we should take heed to not be overcharged with drunkenness. I find it interesting that Jesus spoke of overeating and drunkenness in the same statement linking them as equals. The Greek word used for drunkenness is methe, the root word in methamphetamine, and it means intoxication. Then Jesus warns us of “cares of this life.” I would call this worry, anxiety, depression, or any state of being that might come out of overindulgence and intoxication. They all seem to be tied together, overeat, get drunk, and get bummed out. The last words of Jesus’ public ministry speak loudly to me this day as I observe in myself behaviors that He warned us about. By the grace of God and the program of Alcoholics Anonymous I am in recovery for the drunkenness that He warned us about, but I need to work or the other two. The words “take heed to yourselves” seem to scream at me. My hope is in turning it over to God so that God can do for me what I could not do for myself…………………….JRE

“Simplicity is the keynote of a good life. Choose the simple things always. Life can become complicated if you let it be so. You can be swamped by difficulties if you let them take up too much of your time. Every difficulty can be either solved or ignored and something better substituted for it. Love the humble things of life. Reverence the simple things. Your standard must never be the world’s standard of wealth and power.”
HAZELDEN………………….Twenty-Four Hours A Day