Jesus Junky

My Belief

I had a hard week this week. It was a tiring long week of flying, but that was not the worst part. The hard part was I felt like I kept “tripping” in my walk with the Lord. I flew with a pretty “rugged” crew this last week. They are hard drinkers that love to play with the ladies. They have no interest in Jesus, but know how much I do. Even so, I felt bombarded with profanity and the discontent that comes with living a life for yourself. Both my First Officer and Flight Attendant are firmly rooted in their evil sinful lives. I could see plainly how it destroys all of their joy and relationships, leaving them unsatisfied in life. They hate their work, they don’t have enough money, they want more and new girlfriends, everybody is in their way, and everybody pretty much sucks to them.

A couple days into this trip I started noticing my own joy had started to fade. I did not allow myself to be pulled into their trashy conversations but I had gotten involved in some of the other complaining. I had allowed myself to start getting upset about the economy, our work rules, and some of our rude passengers. It crept in suddenly and then started to grow. I found my own happiness was a little dimmer than it had been before. Toward the end of the trip I sat in the shower to pray and felt empty. I felt like a junky that had not had any narcotics for days. I needed my Jesus! I needed to feel the joy that comes from meditating on the Lord and His promises to me. Nothing this life has to offer can satisfy my addiction to Jesus and when I don’t walk with him daily I feel like I am going through withdrawals. I feel like all my happiness is gone and I am trapped in an ugly world with no hope. I am a Junky for the AWESOME, POWERFUL, SAVING HOPE that is JESUS CHRIST.

Thankfully God heard my prayers for forgiveness and restored part of that joy to me on the last day. I had NO chance to share Jesus with my First Officer, but my Flight attendant listened to me for a little while after he had been drinking. He opened up and shared his brokenness in life with me. He did not embrace the solution of Jesus that I was telling him about, but at least he heard it. My prayer is that he will continue to recognize his need to become a “Junky for Jesus” just like me.

 

Scripture

John 17:15-18 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by^[d] the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world

Application for Life

This world is hard and evil. It is like destructive ivy with tentacles going everywhere. We must live by means of the Holy Spirit ALL of the time in order not to get snared by these vines. It is important to stay in the WORD and put on the full armor of God so that we don’t become victims ourselves. I fully believe we need to be armed to the teeth with what God has given us and then jump right into the trenches. With this boldness God will free others who have been tangled up for years. It is important to remember where we are though. We have to remember we are in the world but not of the world.