Addiction.
The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice
or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming,
as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
Drugs.
Alcohol.
Sex.
Work.
Gambling.
Food.
Video games.
Shopping.
Caffeine.
Pornography.
Working out.
People pleasing.
Perfectionism.
Tattoos. (oops).
Addiction takes on many forms.
And no matter how big or small,
every single one of them take control over you.
You can't get enough of it.
As the definition says,
if you cease to have the thing you desire,
it can cause severe trauma.
Often times its all you think about.
Oher things quickly become much less important,
Even when those things, such as family, were never meant to be forgotten.
You don't think rationally.
Every thought you have is consumed by how to get that one thing.
You are enslaved.
Im addicted to a lot of things,
some of which I'm sure I don't even know about.
It makes me crave things I was never supposed to crave.
It wraps more and more thorns around my heart.
There are no healthy addictions.
You can be addicted to something that seems like a good thing,
like working out,
but even that's only meant for moderation.
We can't fully live when addictions hold us down.
We lose ourselves, our identity.
Every addiction has to be cut off
because in the end, it only leads to misery.
But there's one addiction I haven't mentioned:
an addiction to Jesus Christ.
This might sound like the cheesiest thing you've ever heard,
and rightly so.
i mean, can you imagine someone walking up to you and saying,
"I'm addicted to Jesus?"
Even as a Christian you might think they'd gone off the deep end.
But I think that's exactly where we need to be.
So many of us play it safe.
We stay in the shallow end where we're comfortable.
As a result, we get a comfortable amount of Jesus.
We can still stand with our head above water and remain in control.
Going to the deep end means your feet don't touch anymore.
Youre at the mercy of the waves.
"No thank you," we say.
I don't think there was ever meant
to be a shallow end with Jesus.
It was always supposed to be a straight up dive into the crashing waves.
I think it's time we evaluate whether or not we think it's worth it.
This past Sunday, the pastor asked this question:
"Do you believe that what you believe is actually real?"
I encourage you to seriously chew on that.
Jesus himself tells us to count the cost.
I myself struggled a whole lot with that question.
i mean seriously, is Jesus really worth it all?
If our answer is yes,
then the only option is the deep end.
I want to be addicted to Jesus.
I don't want to think rationally according to the worlds standards.
i want him to consume my every thought.
i want him to take precedence over EVERYTHING.
i want the thought of losing Him to bring me to tears.
I want to be His ambassador in chains.
I wanna be enslaved.
