As Solomon confronts the drunkard, he properly lays out the responsibility. It’s not the wine’s fault that there is such woe in the individual’s life. It is the self-deluded thinking that doing the same thing time after time will produce a different, more favorable result. As the individual contemplates the opportunity, he convinces himself that this time will be different. I won’t stay as long. I’ll quit sooner. But in the end, the poisonous bite is felt, in just the same manner it was on every prior occasion. This is a call to clear thinking. It is a call to preparation. The reality is that the effects of sinful behavior are often so entangling that right thinking is impossible outside of outside influence. Solomon, as a wise counselor, steps in to do this very thing. “Don’t be deluded,” he warns. “Let me help you by describing for you exactly what is going to happen.” It requires a great humility, a helplessness, to allow outside counsel influence our thinking. Yet, this is exactly what each of us need. We are all prone to self-delusion. Recognizing this, God has established the structure of the church to provide the accountability and help that we all would fall without. Let us humble ourselves today, that we might find life and victory.