Holy Hunger, or A Jesus Junkie!

Holy Hunger, or A Jesus Junkie!

What if our love for God was stronger than our sex drive?  I once asked this of a womanizing co-worker!  He said I am crazy.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But, what would our lives be like?  Our world?!

Habit, Compulsion, Urge, Impulse, Dependence, Addiction, Need, Obsession, Passion, Fixation, Craving, Longing, Desire, Hunger, Thirst, Yearning, Infatuation …

Imagine an AA member staring at a liquor store resisting his next bottle.  Picture a crack-head trembling for his next fix.  Pity the porn pervert sitting at his computer ready to take his next peek.  Seemingly less harmful, but no less powerful are the urges of the football fan in November, the longing of the housewife escaped to the mall, the infatuation of the teen looking over car websites dreaming of power and prestige.  We even admire the outdoorsman/naturalist planning his next adventure, or maybe, the fifty-something escaping on the travel channel, and often, the worker paying his dues for his career.  They are all smokers itching for their next cigarette.

“As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you…” (Ps.42:1) are the words to a popular, contemporary,   devotional song.  Most of us can relate to thirst. (especially former athletes with masochistic coaches!)  Jesus highlighted the blessing of hungering and thirsting! (Mt.5:6)  The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed God’s promise that  “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  (Jere.29:13) Does that begin to sound like an addiction?!  Jesus designates the first and greatest commandment to be “Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.” (Mk.12:30f.)  Do you begin to sense an obsession?  We have wants, and even needs, but above all, Jesus challenges us to “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Mt.6:33) 

How does one develop an addiction?  Many would say one has to develop a taste for coffee.  I crave my morning cup, daily.  But, the first taste of chocolate ice cream, that is another matter (for most)!  What small child does not long for chocolate?  The psalmist, David, declares, “O taste and see that the LORD is good…” (Ps.34:7)  Echoing him, Peter pushes our addiction, saying, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1Pet.2:2-3)  Babies are addicted to milk!  They wake up hungry.  One feeds them and an hour later they are screaming for more.  The more they drink, the more they want.  Sound familiar.

Negatively, one can substitute a fake and kill an addiction.  Methadone and NicoDerm can “cure” bad habits.  Money can be substituted for the Son of Man, gold for God, silver for the Spirit.  One really cannot love both.  One addiction will ruin the other! (Mt.6:24)  And, one is in danger of violating Rule One (of the Ten) – “You shall have no other gods besides me”.  Why did He make that one the first rule?!  God must be your “first love”!  (Rev.2:4) And he jealously yearns for us! (Jas.4:5)  Now, there is a holy addiction!

And, it seems that one cannot tolerate one while enjoying the other.  It works both ways.  As one becomes addicted to money, then he repulsed by God.  (Mt.6:24)  This principle would seem to be valid in all other areas of competing compulsions?  If one eats a lot of vegetables, then a high-fat meal is sickening.  But a pizza lover despises salad and soup.  The more one becomes accustomed to one, the less he likes the other.

Are you going out of your way to avoid God?  Or, are you seeking him with all your heart?   For what would you “walk a mile”?!  A Jesus Junkie?!

 (apologies to Tom Waits)

DREAM WORLD

John Lennon once sang the song “Imagine” about a dream world he envisioned.
Knowing that thought precedes creation, and recognizing vision precedes reality, let me share “Dream World” with you, in hope that we may dream of a better world.

I dream of a world where --
    people have replaced greed with service, and
        have substituted selfishness with benevolence;
    where, diligence has overcome laziness;
        and, forgiveness has covered over hatred.

Can you imagine a place where --
    people are more forgiving and less vengeful?
        more tolerant and less bigoted?
        more forgetful and less hateful?

Consider what life would be like if --
    excellence and one’s best were pursued,
        mediocrity and excuses were disdained.
    if, service were the highest goal,
        and selfishness were the lowest sin.
   
Think of a paradise where --
    Everyone is seen as valuable, an integral part of the whole of man;
        and no one is marginalized or excluded, shoved out or left out?
    where,  everyone thinks the best of others, and thinks others the best?
    where, ones first thought is not “what good is he?”;
        but rather, “what good can I do for him?”?
    where, men were less concerned with the size of their own barns,
        and more creative in feeding the hungry?
   
What heights would mankind reach if --
    People were concerned more about the color of their own heart,
        and less about the color of anothers skin!
    if, we saw the world as little children, laughing together, harmless and innocent.

I dream of a world where --
    goodness and godliness are admired,
        and , darkness and evil are despised?
    where, light is longed for like blind men long for sight,
        and darkness is chased into shadows extinguished by the Light?
    where, instead of running and hiding from God,
        all rejoice that they cannot be where He is not?

Maybe I’m a dreamer; but, surely I am not the only one!
 
“God -- guide us , guard us, bless us with goodness. Amen”

WHAT KIND OF BIRD?

WHAT KIND OF BIRD?

                Sunday morning, drinking coffee and reading Lucado, distracted by a cawing crow, my thoughts turned to a co-worker.  Then, I pensively asked myself, “what kind of bird am I?”  I turned my face to Melanie; and, at great risk, I dared to ask my wife, “what kind of bird would I be?”

                 She began a process of elimination, after a joke about a “vulture”!  She began to catalog, “Well, you’re not a crow – an irritating thief; not a sparrow – small and weak; not a peacock – strutting about; not a cardinal – too showy;  not a mockingbird – you speak your own mind, not just copying others; not a dove – quiet and peaceful; not a turkey – nerdy!; not a hawk – mean and murderous”  Then she paused, and declared, “you’d be an eagle – always soaring for the heights”.

                Two thoughts followed: the prophet Isaiah’s comment about “waiters” (Isa.40:31), and, then, about  PBS scenes of eagles catching fish with their talons, on the fly.  Ha! Awesome!  And, then a humbling third thought, eagles often eat carrion (not the same as carry-out?!).  I do not want to disillusion nor disappoint her image of me, never again!

                Often I have daydreamed of being a bird.  (And, some might joke that I am cuckoo?!)  Actually, I would have picked another bird!  But, I liked her answer.  And, immediately (to prevent me picking for her?) she informed me what kind of bird she is – a “blue bird” (her favorite).  Somehow appropriate – she does make me happy.