September 17, 2019 – Click here to listen
Yesterday I was talking to one of the painters that has been working on my house. He was sitting outside on his lunch break smoking a cigarette. I smiled and told him that those things would kill him, and he smiled back and said he knew it and kept right on smoking. I rode down the street and saw a kid on a bike riding along vaping. He couldn’t have been more than 15. I’m sure he must be aware by now of all of the serious lung ailments and disease that has become a vaping related national epidemic. Last night I watched a series entitled DOPE on Netflix and they interviewed numerous addicts concerning fentanyl and how dangerous it is. And though they acknowledged that it could kill them and every time they shot up they wondered if it would, kept right on with it. The same was true of meth and coke addicts.
Those who sell these products don’t care about the lives that are destroyed. Several of the dealers said they could retire and live their lives like royalty, but they are addicted to the “game.” Most have seen the stacks of money, billions of dollars, amassed by cartel leaders. Obviously they could not spend it if they tried. So why go on leading a life of crime? It turns out that they become addicted to power and indeed it will eventually lead to their deaths. In fact, the television documentary said that part of the employee “benefits” of working with the Sinaloa cartel is that your death benefits are paid.
I would not hesitate to say that addictive drugs are Satan’s most cherished possession. They are designed to make you feel great. So, you take some more; you still feel great, but not as much this time. So, you take some more and stronger bigger doses. You take more and more and more to get less and less and less. It is like chasing the wind, you cannot catch it. Soon you find yourself tragically trapped like a fly on sweet smelling flypaper. You cannot escape no matter how hard you struggle. The consequences including death that were scoffed at by those who indulge becomes reality and grief and tragedy set-in and the game ends badly.
C.S. Lewis wrote: The whole lesson of my life has been that no ‘methods of stimulation’ are of any lasting use. They are indeed like drugs – a stronger dose is needed each time and soon no possible dose is effective. We must not bother about thrills at all. Do the present duty – bear the present pain – enjoy the present pleasure – and leave emotions and ‘experiences’ to look after themselves.
That’s the program, isn’t it?
During a discussion of drugs and alcohol with a young employee that I suspected was using drugs I was told that she had to have “something. Everyone does!” She was incredulous that I did not drink alcohol or use drugs. She said, “Surely you smoke a little pot or have an occasional beer or something.” I told her that I had been on both sides of the fence and I discovered that I really DON’T need to use drugs or alcohol to make it through life just fine.
Don’t be Satan’s slave. Even old blue hairs are getting addicted to Oxycontin and other medications. Don’t think you can beat Satan. The key to solving the drug problem is for people not to try them. You cannot beat Satan at his own game. Just enjoy God and what He has created and when storms appear just hunker down and wait until it subsides, and sunny days reappear. This leads to peace, and everlasting joy.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it