Isaiah 5:1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard
Addictions of all kind flood the world. What started as a simple pleasure or temporary escape has become, for a countless number of people, a prison of insatiable dependence.
It shouldn’t surprise us. We humans are designed to live passionate lives. Lives filled with fruitfulness, joy and whole-hearted devotion. The fall of man twisted that plan, redirecting us from finding that fulfillment in our Creator to seeking it in other places.
The house of Israel paints a clear picture of this. Although God had provided everything his “vineyard” needed to thrive, they were producing wild, useless grapes. Isaiah 5 describes the reasons why. They had allowed other passions to take the place of God. Drunk on the love of money and pleasure, lies, pride and injustice, they became greed-aholics, deceit-aholics, conceit-aholics, and cheat-aholics. The song he sang over his vineyard was a sad one.
I want to hear God sing over me a love song of joy. To be part of a vineyard that yields the wine of gladness. You probably do, too. It will no doubt make us God-aholics. We will get addicted to his ways of goodness and mercy. We will become totally dependent on his love to help us forgive. And on his light to show us the truth. He will be the first thing we think of in the morning and the last thought before we drift to sleep.
I like to tell my students to segue their speeches toward the one thing about a particular topic that interests them. Similarly, God-aholics find themselves segueing all their circumstances back to the One who takes center stage in their interests. They are quick to express gratitude to him for every positive, pleasant happening in their lives. And when situations turn south, they know God is able to turn even the worst into something good. So they trust him to work his deeper plan, and depend on his “deeper magic.”
So what kind of “holic” are you? Do you realize you are created to be a God-aholic? He will never take advantage of your dependence on him. He will use it to help you flourish.
Flourish as part of his beloved vineyard.