W.o.W. Wednesday!

"...The young women to be sober..."

Titus 2:4a

Flower Arrangement 1878
George Goodwin Kilburn

     What does it mean to be sober?  What comes to your mind, when you hear that word?  How do we see it in our lives?

Here is the definition of "sober," as found in Webster's 1828 Dictionary, online:

SO'BER, adjective [Latin sobrius.]

1. Temperate in the use of spiritous liquors; habitually temperate; as a sober man.  

"Live a sober righteous and godly life."

2. Not intoxicated or overpowered by spiritous liquors; not drunken.  

"The sot may at times be sober."

3. Not mad or insane; not wild, visionary or heated with passion; having the regular exercise of cool dispassionate reason.  

"There was not a sober person to be had; all was tempestuous and blustering.  No sober man would put himself in danger, for the applause of escaping without breaking his neck."

4. Regular; calm; not under the influence of passion; as sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.

5. Serious; solemn; grave; as the sober livery of autumn.  

"What parts gay France from sober Spain? See her sober over a sampler, or gay over a jointed baby."

     I cannot speak for you, but for myself, just reading the definition(s) sober me up.  When I realize the gravity of my walk with Christ, how could it not?  Oh, but how to live it?

     I am not holding a monopoly on the applications of sobriety.  Yet, there are some ways that come to mind.  May I share them with you?

1. Think before speaking.
2. Think before reacting/responding.
3. Be observant.
4. Be considerate.
5. Remember for Whom (God) you live.
6. Remember that life is but a vapor: "Only one life, t'will soon be past.  Only what's done for Christ, will last."
7. Remember that our lives get to be a constant witness for our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. Remember that everything we do as women of God, matters:  "I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully." 1 Timothy 5:14 

     Those thoughts are just a few ideas that come to my mind.  I am sure that more ideas would come, should I take more time to ponder.  Maybe you have a few, you would like to share, in the comments section, below?

     May we give our blessed Lord and Saviour, the opportunity to sober us up...To mold us into ladies that live as in the day, not in the night, as He reminds us through our brother Paul:

"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do."

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sunday Morning 1831
William Henry Hunt