TODAYS BIBLE READING:
 

Current statistics reveal that more than 50% of those over the age of 18 smoke marijuana on a regular basis. The prevailing lie in our climate of this drug is that it is not harmful. Yet studies, which clearly show otherwise are ignored. Attention, memory, and learning are impaired among users, with effects lasting for 24 hours after discontinuing (it is not certain whether this effect is due to the residue of the drug in the brain, a withdrawal effect from the drug, a direct neurotoxic effect from the drug). It is also associated with impaired memory of recent events, difficulty concentrating, dreamlike states, impaired motor coordination, impaired driving, slowed reaction time, impaired goal-directed mental activity, etc. In one survey of marijuana-using students, 59% forget what a conversation is about before it has ended, 41% report if they read while stoned, they remembered less of what they read hours later. For long-term users, there is a condition called "a motivational syndrome" characterized by decreased drive and ambition, shortened attention span, poor judgment, high distractibility, etc. Many adults who smoke daily believe it helps them function better, however, research has found that marijuana made them more willing to tolerate problems, with the drug serving to avoid situations rather than confronting them, which in the long run made their problems worse.

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We read in Proverbs 10:4-5, "He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame." We read in 12:11,24, 27, "He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding...The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor...The lazy man does not roast what he took hunting, But diligence is man's precious possession." We read in 6:6-11, "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep - So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man." In 26:14,16, we read, "As a door turns on its hinges, So does the lazy man on his bed...The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can answer sensibly."

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Society can alter the perception of wrongful behavior by changing the semantics, but it is what it is. People will say it helps them relax, calms them down, takes the edge off, etc. Though many have seen ruined lives as a result of this, they believe that somehow, they know better and they know how to control it. But what they don't realize is that any mind-altering drug controls the person eventually, and it is not the other way around. Most kids in kindergarten when asked what they want to become will state: a policeman, a fireman, a doctor, etc. No one in prison or who falls way off the course they had hoped for ever planned to "become that", it just slowly happened. Sobriety is necessary to clearly face each day and the enemy who seeks us, as we read in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."