Eat, Drink, and be Merry
Eat, drink, and be merry! That is the life-slogan to which very many people subscribe. It is pervasive throughout society. There are no people, no matter their life circumstances, who are immune to its powerfully intoxicating lure.
However, the lure is just as dangerous to each person as is the fishing lure to the fish it wants to ensnare. It dangles an offer that seems so promising and soon (or should I say sooner or later) it breaks that promise and replaces it with poverty, regret, disillusionment, and shame. In the end, it brings eternal destruction.
This slogan identifies 3 spiritually devastating mindsets. The prophet Hosea addressed those who have a rebellious attitude. “Woe to them, for they have fled from Me! Destruction to them because they have transgressed against Me! Though I redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they waited upon their beds. They assemble together for grain and new wine. They rebel against Me.” (Hosea 7:13-14).
The eat-drink-and-be-merry life signals a heart that is rebelling against the God who has provided all that they now indulge! It is a mindset that has no desire to serve Him and they use His very gifts to show their rebellious minds!
Exodus 32:6 reveals a second mindset that wreaks havoc on a spiritual life—selfishness. This chapter is the account of the golden calf incident with the Israelites. While Moses is on Mount Sinai getting the law from God, the people are engaging in idol worship. Aaron crafted the idol and then we see these words, “Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” They were so engaged with their own desires that they thought nothing of what they had just done.
The final spiritual infection is revealed in Isaiah 22:13, “…Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” The thought of dying did not alter their actions. They had resigned themselves to a despair that saw the future as nothing but death with no thought of anything to follow.
However, even in the midst of what seems to be depression, Solomon wrote that the eat-drink-and-be-merry lifestyle is a good slogan for life. His caveat is that one follows this life mantra with appreciation to God as the Provider of all of these things (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25; 3:13; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7).
— Mike Johnson
