I am a self-confessed​ addict – Part 1

I know this is an eye-popping topic, but as I was thinking about how much more of God’s Word I could ingest, the word addiction came up. Someone who is addicted has an insatiable appetite for something, and it just looks like they can’t seem to quit. The term addiction is not a bad word, it just depends on the context in which it is used. According to the Word Reference English Thesaurus (2018), addict refers to someone who is “a devotee, a fan, an enthusiast, a fanatic, an adherent, a practitioner or a user.” It refers to a level of dependency on something you can’t do without. It can also mean consumed with a longing for something. It is a thirst, a yearning, a hunger and a craving. 

Jesus said, “My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire.” Read John 2:17 (GNT). Can you see this? Jesus was addicted to His assignment, and the only thing that could quench that desire was His fulfilling the call; Hence His prayer at the mount of Olives “…but it is not My will, but Yours, that must be done.” Read Luke 22:42 (PHILLIPS). Recall the Bible says, “As He is, so are we in this world.” Read 1 John 4:17 (NLT).  Since we are like Him in this world, that means the way Jesus was addicted to God; should be our own mantra.

When you are devoted to something, it will burn like fire in you, and that fire can only be quenched when it is given the very source of that burning desire. So here is my question, what are you addicted to? I really want you to think carefully because whatever you are addicted to is what will drive your life. Listen to what the Prophet Jeremiah said, “His Word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” Read Jeremiah 20:9 (NLT). If this is not an addiction, then I don’t know what else it can be. The addiction to preach God’s Word was so strong such that he could no longer hold it in, this is an amazing story.

“When a man is filled with the Word of God you cannot keep Him still, If a man has got the Word, he must speak or die.” – Dwight L. Moody. Watch this, an addict is hooked on his addiction such that he or she can’t be still, nothing else will do.

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