Addiction

Luke: 21: 34-36

34"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

Addiction is a nasty thing in life, and so often when we talk of addiction it is always the old stand-bys…..drugs, alcohol, tobacco……yet really we all contend with addictions, and one is no better of worse really, food, money, relationships, power, sex, material goods……..they all are destructive forces in our lives that when left unchecked will take us to ruin just as fast as the bottle.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many today are quick to point out how terrible it is that someone smokes, or that they drink too much, yet they say this while being addicted to something themselves. Just because society dictates what is and is not accepted, it does not change what the Lord has told us form the beginning is not acceptable. We should not put anything before our relationship with Christ that includes, the promotion, the power, and the fame, all of it. Society might tell us that drinking too much is bad, but giving up everything for fame is OK; that does not make it right.

With that in mind we should look at each other in a different light. We should realize that addiction affects all of us. We all have vices that tempt us, and this is what Paul preaches so earnestly about. It is not the device that is bad or sinful. It is our being given to it, our need for it, and the unyielding desire for something in our lives other than God. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 5: 1”Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is”.

In society today it is easy to get sucked in to the idea that addiction only affects a few people, or that it is only when we start hurting others with our addiction, that it becomes a problem. We would all do well to look within ourselves and rout out anything that we are holding on to tighter than our relationship with Christ. This is what Christ meant in John 12 when He said: “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” There is far more out there to be addicted to, the man given to money and power, is no better than the man addicted to the bottle, we should all remember that before we are so quick to judge the bum…..there are just as many bums in thousand dollar suits !


Peace,
Rev. Thetford