"I'm 39 years old and I just destroyed everything that means anything to me- my fiance, my job, my home . . . everything."
I was on the phone with a guy who had hit rock bottom- seems like I'm getting that call more and more frequently these days. We agreed to meet for lunch and talk about turning his life over to Jesus. On the way there, I thought to myself, "What would cause a man to do something so horrible that it would cost him everything that means anything to him?"
As I talked with this broken man, he opened up and told me that his out-of-control drinking had done it. He said, "I just can't seem to stop. The pressure just gets to me and drinking is the only thing that calms me down." He went on to tell me about his most recent binge, winding up in the hospital talking to a nurse who told him that with his blood alcohol level he should have died three times over. He was now living in his sister's garage on a cot with all he possesses in the world right there with him.
He asked me, "Why can't I give drinking up? I have hurt everyone I know, it's not good for me, it has taken everything from me . . . why can't I give it up?"
I tend to be a very blunt guy- there's really no point when you are a pastor to beat around the bush and be politically correct about everything. I said, "Because deep inside your heart, you still love it."
How do I know this? I know this because there are sins that I love. I hate what they do in my life, I hate the pain they cause to my Lord and Savior, I hate the consequences of them, but in the deep places of my heart, I still love them. I am unwilling to truly let go of them because I love them.
I told this man, "Until your hate of drinking is greater than your love of drinking, you will continue to go down this same path."
He was very quiet. Then he said, "You're right. I do love to drink. That's my problem. No wonder I can't quit, even after all the pain it's caused."
I told him that when he surrenders his life to Jesus, an amazing thing happens. The Holy Spirit, which is the part of God that dwells within us and leads us and guides us, takes our passions and loves and directs them to the things we were originally designed to love. The fall of man in Genesis 3 was more than simply eating forbidden fruit. Something drastically changed within us- our hearts began to thirst after things that would eventually destroy us. That is why conversion and surrender to Jesus is so vitally important in this life- without Jesus, we love what will eventually destroy us.
It makes no sense. Is there anyone who loves cancer? Anyone who loves bubonic plague, or AIDS, or tuberculosis? No. However, there are people who love alcohol and won't give it up, regardless of the pain it causes. There are people who love extramarital sex, regardless of the pain and heartache it causes. There are people who love money, regardless of Jesus' teaching on materialism. There are people who love comfort and ease, regardless of the call of Jesus to forsake ease and live passionately and purposefully.
True conversion happens when we begin to love the Son of God more than we love the things that destroy us. Looking at Christianity through that lens, sometimes I wonder if I have truly ever become a Christian. Praise God for His grace and love for a fallen person like me.
Psalm 66:17-19 says, "I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer."
I was on the phone with a guy who had hit rock bottom- seems like I'm getting that call more and more frequently these days. We agreed to meet for lunch and talk about turning his life over to Jesus. On the way there, I thought to myself, "What would cause a man to do something so horrible that it would cost him everything that means anything to him?"
As I talked with this broken man, he opened up and told me that his out-of-control drinking had done it. He said, "I just can't seem to stop. The pressure just gets to me and drinking is the only thing that calms me down." He went on to tell me about his most recent binge, winding up in the hospital talking to a nurse who told him that with his blood alcohol level he should have died three times over. He was now living in his sister's garage on a cot with all he possesses in the world right there with him.
He asked me, "Why can't I give drinking up? I have hurt everyone I know, it's not good for me, it has taken everything from me . . . why can't I give it up?"
I tend to be a very blunt guy- there's really no point when you are a pastor to beat around the bush and be politically correct about everything. I said, "Because deep inside your heart, you still love it."
How do I know this? I know this because there are sins that I love. I hate what they do in my life, I hate the pain they cause to my Lord and Savior, I hate the consequences of them, but in the deep places of my heart, I still love them. I am unwilling to truly let go of them because I love them.
I told this man, "Until your hate of drinking is greater than your love of drinking, you will continue to go down this same path."
He was very quiet. Then he said, "You're right. I do love to drink. That's my problem. No wonder I can't quit, even after all the pain it's caused."
I told him that when he surrenders his life to Jesus, an amazing thing happens. The Holy Spirit, which is the part of God that dwells within us and leads us and guides us, takes our passions and loves and directs them to the things we were originally designed to love. The fall of man in Genesis 3 was more than simply eating forbidden fruit. Something drastically changed within us- our hearts began to thirst after things that would eventually destroy us. That is why conversion and surrender to Jesus is so vitally important in this life- without Jesus, we love what will eventually destroy us.
It makes no sense. Is there anyone who loves cancer? Anyone who loves bubonic plague, or AIDS, or tuberculosis? No. However, there are people who love alcohol and won't give it up, regardless of the pain it causes. There are people who love extramarital sex, regardless of the pain and heartache it causes. There are people who love money, regardless of Jesus' teaching on materialism. There are people who love comfort and ease, regardless of the call of Jesus to forsake ease and live passionately and purposefully.
True conversion happens when we begin to love the Son of God more than we love the things that destroy us. Looking at Christianity through that lens, sometimes I wonder if I have truly ever become a Christian. Praise God for His grace and love for a fallen person like me.
Psalm 66:17-19 says, "I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer."
David, this is just superb. Thanks.
ReplyDelete