Addicted to His Presence
The presence of God is the sweetest most satisfying drug that there is.
If you think about what happens with any drug, or really anything that leads to becoming addicted, it starts off with that first hit. We take that first drink or that first puff and our body goes, "That was amazing. I like that, I want more." However, we all know that worldly addictions ultimately lead to death and destruction. They start by promising us freedom, joy and pleasure. In the beginning, they might even provide those things. But it's not long before we realize that it was a lie. It's not long before we realize that the very thing we thought would give us freedom has actually made us a slave.
The presence of God is more addictive than any drug on the planet.
However, unlike those worldly pleasures, it leads to life! In fact, you can never have too much of it. You can never go overboard with it. You can consume it as often as you want. The more the better! All it will do is leave you looking more and more like Jesus. All it will do is fill you with a love and passion for Him, and a love and passion for others like you never thought possible.
Related Post: In God’s presence there is fullness of joy.
The more you drink of His presence, the more your desire for the things of this world will disappear. It will get to the point where no worldly drug or pleasure will satisfy. Those things will continue to call out to you and tempt you, but you won't even need to strain to resist them anymore. You will no longer even desire them, simply because indulging in them might rob you of your opportunity to soak up the presence of The Lord.Our natural mindset is to take the Bible, take the things of God, and organize them into some sort of religious system that will bring about a better life. But what if it was never meant to be like that at all?
Addicted to His Presence
What if the whole plan was to just make us so obsessed with God Himself - His love, His mercy, His grace - that a religious system is no longer needed.What if He just meant for us to spend so much time in His presence, that we don't even need to think anymore about the things we should and shouldn't be doing.What if spending that time in His presence, getting to know Him and be near Him, just resulted in us looking more like Him, to the point where we no longer would have to say, "I am going to try my best not to sin anymore?"What if instead, we wouldn't sin just because the mere thought of being separated from His presence is too great to bear?What if we knew His will so intimately that we wouldn't have to say things like, "This year I resolve to give more of my time and money to charitable things," but instead we naturally and instinctively laid down our lives and our resources for others on a consistent basis, and the only explanation being that it's just what we know He would do.
The presence of God is EVERYTHING.
It is the very drug we were designed to thirst for. Not only is it better for us, but it is so much more satisfying and pleasurable that any drug this world has to offer. It satisfies every fiber of our being; mind, body and spirit. I don't want to end this post today with a simple 3 step approach to being a better you. I want to end it with a simple plea to just prioritize His presence today.Just take some time, sit down quietly, and ask the Lord to come. Ask the Holy Spirit to enter the room, to speak to you, and to fill you up. Resolve not to leave until he comes, and then don't go anywhere until He leaves. If we as believers can learn to make this a consistent practice in our lives, then we would simply rest our way into looking more like Jesus, rather than striving to do so.
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth” (Exodus 33: 14-16)