Freedom Blog

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to pour into quite a few young men. Each one was unique and had their own set of hardships and memorable moments. But, the common thread that streamed through them all was God’s main purpose for bringing me into these men’s lives, which was to help further solidify their identity in Christ by speaking truth and life to them. Most of our time together was focused on untangling them from their affections for the world which was directly related to their continual addiction struggles.This affection for the world made them believe the lie that the world had something to offer them that was greater than what God could offer them.

It’s like in 1 Samuel 8, where the Israelites demand that Samuel appoint them a king because they wanted to be like all the other nations (v.5). But, the Israelites were supposed to be different from all the other nations because the Lord had chosen them to be His own treasured possession (Exodus 19:5; Leviticus 18:30; Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2; 18:9; 26:18; Numbers 23:21). You see, what was really happening was the Israelites were rejecting God as their King. But, God is still patient with His people. He’s not reactionary, but purposeful as He tells Samuel to prophetically warn them of how this coming king will rule over them.

“So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them as his chariots and charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army. some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take….” (1 Samuel 8:10-14ff).

The passage goes on, but I think you get the point. The picture these verses paint is that this coming king will basically enslave the Israelites where he will claim ownership, not only of their bodies, but also of everything they owned, to do with both as he pleased. I used to think that God was like this, a heavy-handed God who did whatever He pleased because He was God, even if it meant by force where service and worship is born out of fear, rather than love. But, the more that I experience and encounter the one and only living God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the more I realize that He is nothing like this worldly king who simply uses the people of his kingdom. God desires our unconditional love and He will never force us to love Him. His desire is that we choose Him over and above all the other loves in our lives and of the world.

Even when God warns them of this dictator king, the Israelites still want and demand a king other than God. The text is pretty clear, the Israelites wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now: “But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. “We want a king over us” (v.19). There was no reasoning with them. There was no speaking any sense to them. Their minds were already made up. They had their hearts and minds set on becoming like all the other nations (v.20). I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all at some point in our lives wanted something so badly that there was no talking us out of it, even though deep down we knew that what we wanted probably wasn’t the best thing for us.

From my perspective, ministering to people who are struggling with drug addiction can be extremely frustrating at times because, more often than not, the addiction has become so ingrained into their identity, in how they relate to themselves and others, that it disrupts and distorts their value system. So, when that urge comes to indulge in their drug addiction, their whole thinking process gets turned upside-down. When this happens, there is no reasoning with them. The addiction takes over. Now I’m not saying that I think that the Israelites where on drugs, but I do think that they were addicted to the world.

1) How strong of a pull does the world have on your own life?

2) Do you believe that what God has to offer is better than what the world has to offer?

3) Does your life reflect that you are a citizen of Heaven or a citizen of the world?

4) What needs to change?

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