I noticed an article this morning arguing for and against marijuana use. One plausible line of reasoning in favor is the analogy with the use of wine: “You drink wine, I smoke grass. What’s the difference?”
It is not my purpose here to make the case for moderate enjoyment of wine. That is a separate question. I only want to point out one thing. It is possible to enjoy wine without getting drunk. It is impossible to smoke marijuana without getting stoned. Indeed, that’s the whole point.
But at a deeper level, our new life in Christ is all about our visceral selves coming alive to his spiritual realities. Pascal’s “licking the earth” is how we used to live. “The mentality set on the flesh is hostile to God” (Romans 8:7). We get that now and we repent, because the Holy Spirit is making us “alive to God” (Romans 6:11).
Let’s pursue him with all our intensities. It is impossible to do that without becoming wonderfully filled.
