Maradona Good, Pele Better And George Best!!!

So is prohibition the only way out? While prohibition has its merits, in the spiritual realm is it not akin to getting rid of the cobwebs without killing the spider? With the spider alive, cobwebs would be back sooner or later. For the problem to be rooted out the “spider” has to die. Every man born with an innate Adamic nature prone to sin (Romans 3:23), is in need of a complete spiritual overhaul (John 3:3). Let’s take the example of Gopal garu, yet again. Now temporary abstinence from alcohol in its absence did not guarantee a complete victory for him over his vices. The moment prohibition was gone…sadly, he was a goner. However assume for a moment during the prohibition time, he had had a born again experience (John 1:12). Would he have returned to his drinking habits, when prohibition was off? NO WAY! From personal experience, I can vouch for the fact that the indwelling power of the good Lord would have sustained him even in the midst of all the temptations (Romans 6:16-23, 8:1-4)! AT THE HEART OF ALL SOCIAL PROBLEMS IS THE SINFULNESS OF THE HUMAN HEART (Jeremiah 17:9). A concerned Government can only do so much, to bring discipline in an individual…beyond a point it is helpless…. so ladies and gentlemen please stand back and welcome the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! Jesus (in His name itself is a message) means Savior (Matt 1:21), He alone can give a new heart to a person deeply immersed in sin. It is the presence of Jesus in His Spirit (now that He is not there bodily amongst us), which can convict a sinner in his sin and bring about a radical transformation.

One step of faith would trigger an entire process of a person turning allergic to his addictions (say alcoholism) and becoming addicted to his allergies (disciplined, holy way of living). Do not we see this experience manifested in the life of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector (Luke 19:1-10)? Amassing wealth illegally was his addiction, well… it turned into an allergy, following the intervention of the Savior, didn’t it? How else could the greedy tax collector part with his carefully hoarded wealth, so happily and embrace a God-honoring lifestyle? Charitable deeds were never high in the agenda of this mammon-worshipper but post his encounter with Jesus, we see him overflowing with generosity. If this is not a permanent change for good, what else is?

A closer scrutiny of convicting role of the Holy Spirit would reveal that a sinner goes through a 4 phase “spiritual rehabilitation programme”

1. Realize: Ah, this is first step. A sinner realizes that being in-step with the illicit pleasures of the World is being out of step with the Almighty. Even for a ship captain is not the realization that he is off course which actually paves the way for course correction?

2. Regret: Every sinner expresses deep regret for his wayward living, once it dawns upon him that he has been seriously off course. Do not we see a tax collector beating his chest in profound sorrow somewhere in the Scriptures (Luke 18:13-14)?