By: Kerry Duke The amount of alcohol consumed in this country is staggering. Americans spend over 200 billion dollars a year on alcoholic drinks! We can hardly go to a grocery store without seeing someone load down a shopping cart with beer. Drinking is a national pastime, and money is only a small part of the price our country pays for it. Solomon said, “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1 NKJV). After all the misery alcohol has brought upon the world for thousands of years, man still has not learned this lesson. Millions continue to pour it into their bodies at every opportunity, ignoring another warning of the wise man, “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine” (Proverbs 23:29–30). What good is this product, except perhaps for medicine? Back in the days of prohibition, a speaker who was opposed to the use of alcohol was addressing a large crowd. He said, “If any man here can name an honest business that has been helped by whisky, I will spend the rest of my life working the liquor crowd.” A man in the audience spoke up and said, “I consider my business honest, and it has been helped by whisky.” “What is your business,” the speaker