Sanctioned Addiction

January 25, 2016

Sanctioned Addiction

Proverbs 25:27  AMP

It is not good to eat much honey,

Nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.

Matthew Henry Concise commentary

We must be, through grace, dead to the pleasures of sense, and also to the praises of men.

Miyagi’s commentary

Many people seek the pleasure of the senses….to feel good physically.  Others seek the praises of men ...to feel good emotionally.  Because the want of feeling good physically is so sought after, people end up addicted to the thing that makes them feel good (drugs, alcohol, sex, food  and so forth). They can’t get enough of it because they want to feel good and continue to feel good, day after day.   And because people want to be esteemed by others and be looked at as someone great, they boast of achievements to get praises from men.  But isn’t our goal in this life, as believers, to bring God pleasure and to give Him the glory for all that He has done?  Why do people seek pleasures and glory for themselves?  

If you ever watch two 3-year-olds fight over a toy, they do it because they want to play with that toy.  That toy makes them feel good.  It’s all about pleasing the flesh.   And then you watch two adults fighting over something that makes them feel good, they are no different than the two 3-year-olds, only their toy is much more sophisticated.  They fight over money, position, and power.  The thirst for one’s pleasure and praise is insatiable and endless.  It simply cannot be satisfied.  Once you get what you thought you wanted and needed for the present, two days later, you are seeking more of that.  It never ends.  It become uncontrollable and then an addiction is formed.  Only Jesus can satisfy us and quench that thirst.  Only when we focus on giving Him pleasure and all the glory will we truly find satisfaction in this life.  

Summary conclusion:

When we seek to bring God pleasure and glory, we will find peace and rest for our souls.  When we seek to bring self pleasure and glory, we will find that we become trapped in an endless rat race.

Psalm  149:3-4

3  Let them praise His name with dancing;

Let them sing praises to Him with the tambourine and lyre.

4  For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;

He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Matthew Henry Concise commentary

The Lord takes pleasure in his people; they should rejoice in Him. When the Lord has made sinners feel their wants and unworthiness, he will adorn them with the graces of his Spirit, and cause them to bear his image, and rejoice in his happiness for ever. Let his saints employ their waking hours upon their beds in songs of praise. Let them rejoice, even upon the bed of death, assured that they are going to eternal rest and glory.

Miyagi’s commentary

So how do we give God pleasure and glory?  We, as followers of Christ, can bring God pleasure when we praise Him, and worship Him… for God dwells in the praises of His people.  We also bring Him pleasure and glory when we walk in wisdom, in obedience to Him and in faithfulness to His Word.  We are created with a God-shaped vacuum that only He can fill.  To try to fill it with anything else is futile.

Summary Conclusion:

The world seeks after good feelings and praises of men to pleasure self.   We believers seek to give God praise and glory to pleasure Him.

The Big Picture:

The one whom you seek to please and praise is the one whom you truly worship.  Are you worshipping God or are you worshipping self?

The Byword:

If you must be addicted to something…….be addicted to Jesus.  It is the only sanctioned addiction.  

"Mr.  Miyagi"