Twenty-one and not going to drink!?!

School is finally finished. One more semester put behind me! Can you hear the joyful sound of choirs bursting forth with song? I was so busy the last two weeks of school all I did was eat, sleep, and breath my textbooks and notes. So exasperated was I at the end of these two weeks, that it has taken me an entire week to recuperate. I'm sure my pain is no more than any other college student going through finals so I am deeply concerned for those of you out there who are still in the process of finals! Good luck with those! So December 8th was my birthday and it was so much fun!!! Everybody was so great...and the presents! I am still so amazed about the stuff people got me! It was all so amazing...I loved every min. So I turned 21 and I am proud to say that I did not go out and get wasted. I was tempted... let me tell you. I like having a good time the same as the next person and up until the week of my birthday I was thinking that there would be nothing wrong with have one or two drinks on my birthday. And I still don't think there is anything wrong with having a drink every now and then, but I also want everything that I do to be honoring to God. I knew I didn't want to drink, but what were my reasons? You have to have a reason for the things you do otherwise you might as well just blindfold yourself and try and cross 6 lanes of traffic and hope you make it. I know God wouldn't expect me to do something that foolish just like He doesn't expect me to do things in this life with out having reasons. So as my birthday loomed nearer and nearer I was having this internal battle. If I wasn't going to drink I definately wanted to have reasons why and they were going to be ones that I felt comfortable admitting to. But I had nothing. Then little things started revealing themselves to me. In a couple of my classes (secular classes), there were discussions on the affects that alcohol can have on the best of people, how it is the root of so much of the turmoil that this world experiences. But still that wasn't enough, I mean having one or two drinks wasn't going to make me into some kind of criminal!! Then my pastor said something that really spoke to me. He said that time and time again God warns us to stay far away from the things of this world. He dose this because they CAN BE FUN! But they are not HIS way. There are so many things in this world that can tempt us to stray from God, why would I want to add more temptation, I'd only be making my life harder! God has a perfect plan for me, and though it is hard to understand at times (I mean, I desperately want to go with my friends to bars and drink and have a good time) it is far more important to me to surround my life with things that would bring honor to God. If there is even the slightest question in my heart (like there is now), I think the thing to do is to cling to what I know, what I feel. God wants us to be examples in all we do, though I may drink and do so in a responsible manner, it still may cause other around me to question what I do. God calls us to come out and be separate. And though at times like this, when all I want to do is what everyone else is doing, I need to let God lead my heart and depend on Him for all the decisions that I make! (Sigh...) And so I decide and with boldness that can only come from God... I will not drink...God Help Me!
Tina