13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
and drunkenness [drunken bouts],
“Drunkenness” or drinking bouts are conducted by frolicsome men parading through streets. In the first century this was done in honor of the god Bacchus or some other deity. Here Paul referred to something less than that because he was addressing Christians. “Drunkenness” is in the plural, indicating many kinds of drunkenness and the habit of drinking bouts. This amounted to drinking-parties. We call this “hard drinking” today.
PRINCIPLE:
Christians who participate in hard drinking will develop a habit that will be hard to break.
APPLICATION:
Believers who get to the place where they are hard drinkers have a habit that will be difficult to overcome. Habits are patterns of behavior. A habit is overcome by a countervailing habit. If we develop a habit of not reaching for the bottle but displacing it with something else, then we will eventually conquer the drinking problem. If, for example, we memorize this verse and then each time we are tempted remind ourselves of what it says, we will counter sin with a biblical solution.
