Two Paths...Your Choice

Proverbs 16:25
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.

That is a mighty bodacious verse.
The reality that there exist a way....a lifestyle....a choice that lies before each person.
The path hasn't changed and turned evil. The path is a constant.
It is the perception of the individual that is warped.
Warped by a sin nature that has the ability to rationalize anything.
Rationalize even when our conscience tells us that the choice we are about to make is wrong.

The path to addiction never changes.
I don't care what vehicle your ride down it..
Pills...
Heroin....
Alcohol....
Weed.....
Synthetic weed...
Meth....
The path always ends in death, incarceration, or institutionalize.
But such seems right to us when we stand there at the beginning of the path.
Our ability to reason and to see beyond the moment is clouded and dulled.
"I'm not going to let this get out of hand."
"I'll only use on weekends."
"I won't become an addict."
And on and on and on goes the litany of deceptive reasoning that leads to death.

The path to addiction is one that is lonely and separated from others. We bolster our self confidence by thinking that we know what's best for us. We understand ourselves better than anyone else. For that very thought, we move away from others, seeking their company only when we need to use them. 

"There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is death."

To contrast this dark path that ends in death, lets look to what the Big book of A.A. says...

"Rarely have we seen anyone fail who has thoroughly followed our path."

This statement was made by other people who have succeeded in finding a life beyond using and drinking. Real life...an open life. A different path.

The statement makes a pretty incredible promise.

That the majority of people who choose to follow the way...the path...the direction that has been taken by countless others..and do so thoroughly. No short cuts...no altering the discipline of recovery....will not fail at this effort to break free of the darkness of addiction. 

Seems to me if I were in addiction and I knew that I was moving down a wrong path, I'd at least take a look at this promise of a new life. Funny thing happens when you start down this new way..this new direction. As a friend of mine likes to say, "You can't do the 12 Steps and not hit your head on the cross."

Sounds like wisdom to me.

God on you..

mb