"How's That Working Out?"

Haggai 1:5-6
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

People in the book of Haggai had been given a task. They had left the chains of exile and slavery behind, and had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Years passed and the excitement and the newness of the task had worn off. Now they turned away from what God had called them to, and simply tried to live. As a friend of mine so often states when he runs into what he refers to as "Addict-a-logic"...."Hows that working out?" Not to good.

I guess you could look at recovery or sobriety as something that has now become your job.
I guess you could look at Salvation and this new relationship with Christ as being "our job". 
Our focus has to be on maintaining the discipline necessary to see results.
Lot of folks hate that word.......discipline. But I see it as a necessary and essential part to recovery. And for that matter, life itself. 
I like paying my bills.
Funny thing happens when I do pay them.
My lights don't get turned off.
My cable is there to watch when I want to.
Water keeps coming out of the tap.
The gas keeps my home heated as well as the water we wash with.
All of these things are benefits that come with the discipline of paying bills each month.
Same with Recovery.
I love the way God pulls us into the conversation in the verse from Haggai.
"Give careful thought to your ways."
One version states it as "Consider your ways."
Look at the results of your way of doing things.
"How's that working out?
You see, I believe that God is a common sense God and he truly does want to see us succeed. But when the record shows that we continue to make bad decisions after bad decision, then He steps in to get our attention. Why? Because He loves us that much. If He didn't love us, He would not intervene in our life.

I stated earlier that you could look at recovery as being "out job".
If I have been hired to do a job, then I want to reap the benefits of having that job.
If I am entering into this new life with Christ, and sobriety is my goal then I need to reap the benefits of my choice. 
Those benefits come when I simply start working the steps. When I turn my will and my life over to the care of Christ.

Don't fall in love with the thought of recovery.
Fall in love with the Power that makes it possible........Jesus.
Don't fall in love with the thought of the Twelve Steps.
Fall in love as you daily walk with Jesus and begin to see your life change.
What use to scare you and cause you to run and medicate yourself into a stupor, will now be met head on and overcome because that is what you do in this new life.

Recovery truly is for quitters.
Why not quit today?

God on you....
mb