Jeremiah 17:10
The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
Truth...
I need real truth in my life if I am going to survive. By surviving, I mean living. Real life, not just an existence. Not simply marking time, breathing, eating, sleeping, but life with purpose and direction.
What is it I do know to be truth?
Well, we look for reasons as to "WHY" we do what we do, especially in addiction.. I think one of the reasons we ask such questions, is in hopes of finding something or someone to blame for our bad behavior. We keep asking ourselves, "What caused me to do this?" The answer is very simple. I chose to.
If I make such a choice, to use, then my choice comes from my heart. The very center of who I am as a human being. The part where will, intellect, world view, and emotion are all joined together. My heart, which is driven by a nature to sin, is full of wrong. Full of denial, deceit and self interest above the needs of others, I will choose wrong every time. I am truly in need of a Power greater than myself who can free me from this endless cycle of living wrong. The journey to freedom and a new way of living begins with the simple understanding that I am powerless to do anything to enact change in my life. I am in desperate need of having the old heart....the old me destroyed, and new me re-birthed or born again into a new way of living. From this place I can learn to make good choices and live in such a way that it honors the Power that changed me, Jesus Christ.
King David, who had done a terrible wrong, was deep into confession and turning from his sin when he penned the words to Psalm 51. In verse 9 and 10 we read: Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
David knew that no matter how bad he wanted to do the right thing, to live right and make wise choices, it would never happen as long a he held on to his old heart, one that was sinful and affected every choice he made. He was in need of a "heart transplant".
I see over and over again, people coming to treatment thinking that the only thing they have to do is get clean from the drugs and alcohol, and learn to make good choices. Getting clean is no problem. Mission accomplished. It's the other part they don't understand. Recovery is more than making good choices. With out the change of heart, we will be more influenced by our flesh (sin nature) than ever before. The ability to make the good choice will be severely under attack by our old lifestyle, because the one thing that drove us is still in place.......the old heart. Deceitful, wicked above all things, as Jeremiah wrote.
Step #3
Made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
This is why, every day as we get up to face what life has in store for us, we need to spend time in the Word and in prayer. Such are the things that prepare us to be successful as we navigate the day.
God on you.....
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