Wednesday, June
13, 2018
“When an evil
spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will
return to the person I came from.’ So
it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds
seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and
live there. And so that person is worse
off than before.” Luke 11:24-26(NLT)
It is some incredible thing
we humans do, jumping out of the frying pan, only to land squarely in the
fire! We leave a bad choice behind,
cleaning up our act so we have a fresh start (usually at someone else’s
expense), and promptly wade right back into our destructive behavior.
The apostle Peter wrote one
of his epistles about the human condition of despising God’s way in favor of
following every twisted and destructive human desire that comes our way:
These people
are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are
doomed to blackest darkness. They
brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they
lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.
They promise
freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape
from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than
before. It
would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know
it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of
this proverb: “A dog returns to its
vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig
returns to the mud.” 2 Peter 2:17-22(NLT)
A life of deception,
uselessness, corruption, enslavement, being controlled, tangled up, returning
to our vomit or mudhole, and drawing others into all this woe and misery to
keep us company and soothe our guilt – this is the life of addiction.
As a pastor I’ve had some front
row seats to what addiction does to families.
Frankly, the word “addiction” is almost too sanitized; Jesus characterized
it as demonic possession. Peter compared
addicted humans to “unthinking animals” describing the way we become when
enslaved to our particular substance of choice…alcohol, drugs, power, sex, or
just plain evil for the sake of wickedness.
We leave a wake of discarded relationships, destruction, and regret in
our pathway.
If the subject comes up there
is almost no human alive who cannot contribute to the conversation. Every family has its stories about the alcoholic,
or the one with the gambling gene, or the one who, as that “fun-loving,
lovable, impossible-to-dislike party guy or girl” could never be depended-upon,
except for failing to show up at the most important time.
The space available for this
devotion in your day hardly has time to say anything comprehensive about our 21st
century problems and their solutions about this addictive culture in which we
live. So, let me just cut to the bottom
line. We have graduated from the
kindergarten of an uncomplicated trust in being obedient to God; we have enrolled
in the lower education process of doing it our way. And that change of major includes a heavy
emphasis on feel-good, avoid-guilt or accountability at all costs, obliterating
all mention of sin or self-control and discipline. Make certain to satisfy every desire you have,
and whenever something goes wrong with your plan, find an excuse that keeps
your self-esteem intact!
In other words – avoid going
to the altar to get right with God; just jump out of that frying pan of
pleasing self, and right into that fire of addictive behavior, destroying
whatever is left of the imago Dei – God’s image in your soul.
And…as long as we’re in
revival mode here, let me just complete the picture: in that fire, you’ll meet the one who is
stoking-up all that mess, God’s enemy, Satan, who is laughing with
uncontrollable, wicked glee to meet you there.
For You Today
Wow!
Who expected to start the day with THAT kind of tirade over sin? Well, better to address our sin by naming it in
confession, than to live like an empty, dried up spring, or a dog returning to
the vomit; Peter said that is a useless life, bound for the blackest darkness. And who wants that?
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