II Chronicles 11:15
Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made.
The unspoken battle cry of humanity, living out side the will of God.....
"I want what I want, when I want it!"
"I'm the captain of my ship....."
"I am in charge of my life......"
"Why don't you get off my back"
Yep....just like old Jeroboam, we want to take the rules and commands of God and twist them to fit our own sinful pattern of life.
In other words, if I am in addiction, I will take the steps and make them the way I want them to read....
When in fact, the very heart of recovery is to approach life in a very humble state.
Realizing the need to have the ability to simply follow instructions. We've pretty much proved that we have a hard time following instructions. Well, let me rephrase that. It's not so much that we have a hard time following instructions, as it is me wanting to do it my way.
Old Jeroboam had gotten himself in a terrible jam. He was trying to be king and was making a mess of it. to the point that people began to leave the country to go to Jerusalem to worship. Ol' Jerry came up with a whiz bang idea. "I'll create my own version of worship right here in my country. It'll be bigger than anything they got down in Jerusalem, that way people will stay here and won't have to leave!" Trouble was, ol' Jerry took what God had created and twisted into some sort of pagan, ritualistic, form of worship. Ol' Jeroboam's battle cry was "I want what I want, and I want it now! Never mind that I haven't thought this whole thing through. Never mind that I have not considered the consequences of my actions...I want it!!!" Needless to say, it did not end well for Jeroboam. Why do we think we are any different? Why do we think that we can make everything work in our favor? Well, we can't. Living life in this way only leads to us saddling up like Jeroboam and heading down that destruction highway.
We forget the admission that has to take place with the very first Step to this new life of recovery.
Step #1-- I am powerless....
Powerless to choose rightly....
Powerless to carry out any decision I make to a suitable end.
Powerless.
Funny part in moving into relationship with Jesus, Powerless is the very anchor that holds everything in place. We can never get away from it. we cannot escape it. It is the truth that keeps me looking to Jesus for support, guidance, and power to live life on God's terms.
Paul writes in II Corinthians 12:9 - "God's power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." I guess the big lie in life is a very simple one. When everything points to me being powerless...I keep telling myself, "I want what I want, when I want it. I can handle it!"
No, we can't. Our track record is evidence of this bad decision way of living.
Maybe it's time to quit living under the delusion of "I Want" and turn to Christ with a grateful heart and proclaim "I will".
God on you...
mbb
No comments:
Post a Comment