Willfully Unwilling

Willfully unwilling. Now that’s a strange sounding term we don’t hear a lot yet it precisely describes how we often get out of doing things. People purposely decide not to learn something so we don’t have to do this or that. I hate cooking so when my wife tries to show me how, I make sure not to pay attention (hope she’s not reading this). Why? So I can ensure the most I do in the kitchen is wash dishes. Willfully unwilling isn’t necessarily a bad thing except when it comes to the Bible. 

We make sure not to crack it open too often or we might stumble on a few verses that force us to think about what we’re doing. A trip to Vegas to play the slots, grab some drinks and soak up the nightlife has been scratched off many people’s bucket list. Or how about that quick jaunt to the store for a lottery ticket. Is there anything wrong with gambling or drinking? Many would argue not but how would we know if we don’t look in the Bible to find out? 

“Thou shalt not gamble” is not in the Bible but being a good steward certainly is (Matt 25:14-30). So are verses about greed (Prov 28:25), covetousness (Luke 12:15), and the love of money (1Tim 6:10). How can gambling which involves one, if not all of these sins, be seen as not sinful? But hey, if you’re thrilled about connecting the dots on gambling, you’ll love what God says about drinking... or maybe not. 

Again, the Bible doesn’t expressly forbid an act but it does give clarity for our actions. Drinking is not the problem. The problem lies in the amount we drink and the reason why we drink. Having some wine is actually advised as a remedy for Timothy’s ailing stomach (1Tim 5:23). However, God also tells us to be sober minded (1Peter 5:8). Now if you drink until you get a buzz, you’re no longer sober minded. 

The essence of what I’m saying is that the Bible teaches us how to live. Some of those lessons are expressly stated while others you have to piece together. God tells us to study the scriptures so that we train ourselves to “...distinguish good from evil” ‭‭

(Heb 5:14‬ ).‭

Think about it.