I confess that I am an addict.  I am addicted to Jesus.

I wrestled with the idea of using these words because I know that many of you are in recovery. But then perhaps, it is you to whom this message will make the most sense. I do not want to offend you or trivialize what you have gone through, and the victory you have won through the saving grace of Jesus. I am truly in awe of any person who is a walking testimony of successful recovery. Furthermore, some of us have not seen ourselves as addicts because we have not abused drugs or alcohol, and yet, we lack self-control over temptations or habits to escape what disappoints us by spending too much time on things that feed our lusts and egos rather than what feeds our souls. Things like overeating, overspending, indulging in entertainment that opposes God’s principles, squandering time on social media, etc. Oh, yes, it has been scientifically proven to be addictive, not to mention that programmers themselves have spoken out about their job to design software to specifically target the addiction center of our brain.

One of the first things we learn when trying to break bad habits is that we can’t just stop that habit and expect to succeed without filling the hole it leaves in our life with something else. In fact, one of the reasons we so easily succumb to addictions is because we were created to have relationship with God, and there is nothing else that can satisfy that craving. When we are not in right relationship with God, we are desperately trying to fill that incompleteness within us with whatever is offered up to us. The only way to really be 100% set free of addiction for a lifetime is to fill that hole that compels us to search for a solution is to find and experience the saving grace of Jesus, his unconditional love for us, and become the man or woman he created us to be.

The word addict comes from the Latin word addictus, which means assigned to or surrendered to; someone who completely surrenders their will.  The English definition of addict is someone who is devoted to, or abandoned their will to an object (person or thing). This is why I say that I am addicted to Jesus; I have abandoned my self-will and surrendered to his will, (actually it is still a work in progress), and he has a lot to say about our relationship.

First, he tells us in Matthew 22:37, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and with all your strength”.  He is talking to Believers, and he is not making a suggestion. It is a command: we must love him with all of our being. In other words, we must abandon our own selfish will and surrender it to him. He becomes our life and his priorities become our purpose. Revelations 3:16 says that if our relationship with him is lukewarm then he will spit us out of his mouth, meaning if we do not love him with our whole being (putting him first in everything, holding nothing back), then he is not pleased with us, and we will miss the abundant life he came to give us.

Secondly, Jesus commands us to do what he does.  In Matthew 12:30 he says, “If anyone is not with me, then he is against me. He who does not work with me is working against me.” Or as The Message puts it: “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.” There is no sitting on the fence allowed. You are either proactively following Jesus, or you are aiding and abetting the enemy! He is quite adamant that there is no middle ground; you either live in a way that furthers God’s kingdom, or you are an enemy of God’s kingdom. You can’t straddle the fence or dabble in worldly activities, and that includes thoughts and philosophies, that oppose the kingdom of God.

A few years back at one of our board meetings, Terrie Olson recommended that we read the book Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman.  A fan and a follower are not the same. For example, I am a fan of the racecar driver Kyle Larson. I think he’s awesome. I sometimes say, “Oh, I just love Kyle!” I read about him. I have a shirt with his name on it. I watch him on TV. I cheer for him. I have traveled out of state to watch him race. If you let me, I’ll talk about him until your ears fall off. But you know what?  He doesn’t know I even exist! My name means nothing to him. He didn’t recognize me when I was 10 feet from him. Our lives do not intersect or give any meaning to the other. We have no relationship at all. Sadly, I’m afraid this mirrors the (non)relationship some people have with Jesus even though they say they are Believers. Jesus is watching us, cheering for us, loving us, (not to mention he went so far as to die for us) and he wants to be included in every part of our life. But relationships require interaction and participation by both parties.

On the other hand, a follower is a Believer who lives out their belief in Jesus by following in his footsteps. He is our example and as a follower we will follow his lead; what he thinks, we think, what he says, we say, what he does,  we do, where we goes, we go. That’s the positive, but we also need to follow his example by not thinking or saying or doing what he would not, or go where he would not go. I’m not implying that we must follow a bunch of rules, no! Jesus gave us two commandments that he said summed up all those previous laws and rules, and they were more pleasing to him than offerings. The first is Matthew 22:30 stated above: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”  The second commandment in verse 31 is, “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  The common thread in both of these is love; first, our love for God, and second, our unconditional love for others. He is serious about this. I John 4:8 says “But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God—for God is love.”

When I say I am a Jesus addict I mean that I crave him, need him to function, sometimes I need him just to breathe. I want to be with him all the time. He is the source of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. When you are a Jesus addict, you become a Jesus follower; your every thought, every word, every act, will be motivated and activated by God’s unconditional love, revealed and powered by Holy Spirit. That great love will overflow out of our life and spill out and encompass the people in our lives.

Sometimes (maybe a lot of times) I fail at this. Jesus was perfect and I want to grow more like him with each step that I take as I try to follow his example, but even though I will never be perfect until I get to Heaven, God sees me through the righteousness of Christ because he has redeemed me, and while I struggle with the disappointment of my failures, God sees me flawless because of what Jesus did at the cross, and because he sees the purity of my heart’s desire to be like Jesus. The more I abandon my own self-driven will and live in the will of God by the power of Holy Spirit to become more and more like Jesus, the closer the reality of my flesh-self comes into line with God’s picture of the redeemed me.

I am addicted to Jesus. He is more than good. He is my life.