WK 46 ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ITS ATTRACTION

ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ITS ATTRACTION

KEY VERSE: Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler: whoever is led astray by them is not wise. PROVERBS 20:1

SCRIPTURE LESSON: PROVERBS 23:29-35
PROVERBS23:29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes.
30Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
32In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things.
34You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”

INTRODUCTION
In the previous edition of the Weekly Bible Lesson, we wrote about Drub Abuse in Ghana and mentioned a number of drugs including cocaine, cannabis, alcohol and amphetamine. In this edition we focus on alcohol which is the most widely abused drug in Ghana.

EXPOSITION
The commonest alcoholic beverages are wine, brandy, whisky, various kinds of beer including stout beer. While these are commonly consumed in the towns and cities and among middle and upper class people, the lower classes and those in the villages consume palm wine or pito or akpeteshie. Alcohol is sold in almost every corner of cities, towns and villages in the country. Drinking “spots’ are springing up everywhere. These ‘spots’ are well decorated to make them attractive to people. A side attraction of the ‘spots’ is the sale of khebab. The target group of the operators of these spots is the young men and women.

ATTRACTIVENESS OF ALCOHOL
Prov. 23:31 clearly shows that wine or alcohol can be very attractive. It says: “Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. (Remember that the words underlined used in advertising two popular alcoholic beverages in Ghana). This attractiveness has been used extensively by the manufacturers and distributors of various wines and alcoholic beverages to attract all categories of people, especially young adults. The following are the various ways in which people are attracted:

ADVERTISEMENTS: Alcohol advertisements on television screens are very appealing,
especially, to the youth. Young men and women are captured on the screens to
portray the picture that alcohol is very good to enjoy and the best drink to
celebrate with. The pictures are so attractive that young men and women are
are often tempted to go immediately for a drink.

DRINKING SPOTS: Some claim sitting at ‘drinking spots’ with ‘big’ men and women
in society to drink enhances their status. At the spots, and also during funeral,
young men and women try to identify themselves with these so called ‘big’
men and women, through drink, to show to others that they are also ‘big’

SEXUAL PERFORMANCE: The impression is also created that alcohol enhances
Sexual performance.

APPETITE FOR FOOD: It is a common thing these days to see men and women go for
A ‘tot’ before meals. They claim that it gives them the appetite to eat.

FALSE COURAGE: Some claim alcohol gives them the courage to speak in public
Without which they cannot perform, while others claim it helps them to forget
their sorrows and problems.

EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL
Let’s look at the effects of alcohol on an individual, his health, family and society at large. It is important to note that alcohol has no vitamins, fats, mineral, proteins or carbohydrates. Thus it has none of the elements essential for health. When alcohol is substituted for food, the body is deprived of essential nutrients and this leads to mal nutrition and vulnerability to diseases.

The truth is that alcohol has a lot of harmful effects on those who use it. Alcohol is a depressant drug of the central nervous system. It slows down the activity of the brain like thinking, reasoning and felling. It also slows down the system that controls the muscles like movement, speech and vision. Alcohol makes the liver to overwork and this can make it enlarged or inflamed (cirrhosis). Prolonged and excessive drinking can bring about brain damage resulting in permanent mental disorder in which the personality is very seriously disorganized (psychosis). Some chronic abusers of alcohol may eventually become impotent and may not recover even after they stop drinking. Blood sugar can also be lowered, causing hypoglycemia, which is common to heavy drinkers; fat accumulates, and the ‘beer belly’ develops after weeks. Thus alcohol can affect the body adversely.

Alcohol is often a contributing factor in crimes against people in society. Crimes such as assault, battery, murder and rape can be attributed to alcohol. Many road accidents leading to serious injuries or loss of lives are caused by drunken drivers. Thos who drink and drive are a threat to themselves and other road users.

THE WORD IN OUR LIVES
Akwetey was the last born of his parents, Mr. And Mrs. Quartey. He was a very brilliant boy and his parents were proud of him. They were determined to support their son in all his academic pursuits. He passed his Senior High School Examination and gained admission to the university to read medicine.

Mr. And Mrs. Quartey were Christians and they made sure their children were brought up with Christian principles. Whenever the children were on holidays, they had morning devotions together and they urged them to have their private quite times. Akwetey was a very good boy at the Sunday school. The teachers were eager to prepare him into become a Sunday School Teacher in the Church.

At the University, Akwetey had a television set in his room. The advertisement on alcohol on the TV screens so fascinated him that anytime he was in his room he did not want to miss the. At first he wondered what was in alcohol that made the young men and women on the screens enjoy it so much. On one occasion as he watched the television with a friend he asked him why those people dank alcohol with joy. The friend who had been consuming alcohol himself decided to ‘lecture’ Bright on alcohol and how it could enhance his image. He told Akwetey if he begins to drink it will give him the opportunity to sit with some ‘big men’ at the ‘spots’ to drink. Sooner, Akwetey was a regular visitor to a popular ‘spot’ near the university. He was surprised to see the number of young men and women who visited the ‘spot’ each evening.

Then Akwetey began drifting away from his books. Instead of spending time on them, he increased his visits to the ‘spot’ and spent time with friends. His performance in the semester’s examination was so poor that he lied to his parents that he was sick during the period. Back in school he began having fun not only with alcohol but with girls. One day as he left the spot to the university campus with his friends who were as drunk as he was they came face to face with some hooligans. A fight ensued and in the process Akwetey was stabbed in the stomach and was rushed to the hospital. When his parents visited him, he was ashamed that he had let them down. He told them how he was deceived by the advertisements on alcohol and how he was misled by his friend. He asked his parents to forgive him and pray for him.

Those who are deceived by alcohol are not wise. It destroys their power of reason and leads them like sheep to the slaughter house.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discuss today’s passage and relate it to the theme for the lesson.
What can the Church do to protect the youth and its members from the dangers of alcohol abuse.
Do you think stricter laws on alcohol advertising can reduce its consumption especially by young adults?
Would you advocate for a total ban on alcohol advertising? Why or why not?
Apart from the ‘spots’ and night clubs, in what other ways are people lulled into “social drinking.”


BIBLE LESSON APPLICATION
Identify an alcoholic in your locality. Share the word of God with him and tell him how the power the God can set him free. Share the outcome with you class/group.

DAILY BIBLE READINGS
Monday Proverbs 4:16-17 Alcohol leads to Violence
Tuesday Proverbs 21:16-18 Alcohol leads to Poverty
Wednesday Proverbs 31:1-7 Alcohol Perverts Judgment
Thursday Isaiah 5:10-12,22 Woe to the Alcoholic
Thursday Habakkuk 2:5 Alcohol leads people Astray
Saturday Ephesians 5:17-19 Alcohol leads to Debauchery