Addictions and Heirs

               Since I was twelve years old I have had some level of caffeine addition in the form of coffee. At first I was just a social drinker who occasionally would share coffee with friends and family. Then I realized that my family drank coffee daily so I needed to drink it daily as well (in the name of being social). By the time I finished high school I was up to (the equivalent of) 4 cups a day. I recognized a problem and switched to decaf for a summer before getting a job at a coffee shop. When I started working at the coffee shop, I quickly learned that drinking decaf unacceptable and switched back to regular. It is easy to become addicted to having at least 4 or 5 cups a day when the guy you work with is going threw withdrawal pains after having “only” 8 to 10 cups.  While pregnant I could not stand coffee, but now it is once again part of my daily routine. When breaking addictions it is much easier to get rid of something completely than to try to moderate it. If I were to take all of the coffee out of my house and quit drinking it completely, I would probably successfully kick the habit. Instead I simply try to limit my intake and the result is my addiction continuing.  

                In Galatians 4, Paul points out that we do not have the luxury of completely ridding ourselves of our sinful desires and habits; instead, we must regularly make the choice to live in the freedom we have been given. He explains that we were slaves to inanimate objects of the physical world (in our day he might have used examples like Television, computers, paychecks, ect.) and our lives were driven and dictated by these things. Now that we have the Gospel of Christ, we have been promoted to being sons of God and heirs with Christ. This means that the physical things of this world have no power over our well being unless we give ourselves over to them.

                So what things do I allow to have control over me? What do I let destroy my happiness? What do I allow to make me worry? What do I allow to disrupt my since of security? What do I allow to affect my since of beauty and self worth? What do I allow to make me insecure? When I compare these things to the Almighty God who calls me His child I am ashamed to have given them so much control over me. Most of the things that I give control to in my life are not even living much less gods.

                Lord, thank You for making me Your child and freeing me from being a slave to the inanimate things in this world. Help me not to walk back into addiction and slavery but to remain in the freedom You have given me. Amen.