Timmy's Tummy

155 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities. At this juncture of the letter, Paul gets very personal with Timothy. Timmy's tummy was evidently acting up and Paul was concerned by the frequency of the incidents, and so he passes on some good medical advice. “Drink a little wine Timothy for medicinal purposes.” The first thing I find interesting about this passage is Paul doesn't say anything about the laying on of hands in order to pray for a miraculous healing. (Not to say that they didn't do that) but this advice from Paul should tell us that it's okay to seek relief of our maladies through medicine. Next, we ought to notice that this wine was to be used in moderation, “use a LITTLE wine for your stomach's sake. A little wine in the stomach might settle things down a bit, especially since the water of Timothy's day was not always potable. Let's talk a little bit about the biblical use of wine. Wine was a major part of the Passover meal, it was typically used 4 or 5 times during the ceremony, but it was watered down wine. It was typically diluted with three parts water to one part wine. Anything less by biblical standards was considered “strong drink,” With this diluted mixture of water and wine, and the 4 or 5 cups that were part of the ceremony, there was no chance of getting tipsy. By the way, this explains Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding of Cana. He was not putting His stamp of approval on getting blasted. You can be sure he did not make “strong drink” but He made a good drink, one that was exceptionally tasty even with the watered down mixture. We could all learn from this in our alcohol crazy society. Stay away from strong drink. Everything in moderation, “a little” as Paul advised Timothy. Prov 20:1 says: “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”