I caught this Pileated Woodpecker just outside my computer window. I think he is addicted to headaches. I get one just watching !! But in reality he is simply addicted to the grubs he finds in stumps or dead trees.
Addiction......
I was listening to the news today and there was a segment reporting on addiction to video games that got me thinking about addiction.
What exactly is 'addiction' ?
One definition says this... "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma. "
Addiction is recognized as a negative force that hinders or destroys one's natural enjoyment of life.
Man as created by God is 'good' - God said so ! That means our desires, our characteristics, our traits, our emotions , our natural tendencies all have their roots in something good.
However, because of Adam's sin, the knowledge of good and evil entered the consciousness of man . Man now had the power to choose. Sin and self-ishness can turn something intended for good to something harmful or bad.
But addiction ? How could an addiction ever be good ? The definition above talks about "habit forming ... to the extend that cessation causes severe trauma". Should we not be so 'addicted' to loving and serving God that to turn away would cause severe 'trauma' ?
I watched the Pileated Woodpecker to day, I watch the birds and the squirrels -- each of them is 'addicted' to their daily activity. They repeat the same actions over and over again ... not to their hurt , but rather to their enjoyment of life!
I thought of our 'future' to come when we will be living on the New Earth! Will our God-given tendency toward 'addiction' then not meet its holy intended purpose?
Then we will so love and enjoy perfection, righteousness and the glory of God's Presence that there will be nothing in us that will ever yearn for anything other than what IS !!
May we look forward to that time, preparing ourselves in this life by being 'addicted ' in our love for God and in our desire to walk in obedience before Him.
"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deu 6:5 KJV
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