Article June 23, 1956 Issue

Signs of the Times

From The Window Cleaner in the Portsmouth Evening News Hampshire, England

One of the most fascinating words to study is the word "sober," which recurs quite often in the Bible. ... St. Paul says, "Let us, who are of the day, be sober." St. Peter tells us, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Titus asserts that followers of Christ [Jesus] must be sober-minded.

What a pity it is that this word has lost its original interpretation. ... When men say, "Be sober," they usually mean, "Be stupid and dull," but when the Bible uses this phrase it means, "Wake up" and get up, and let fly the earnestness and vivacity of life! Bible sobriety implied effectual doing.

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