God Is Not A Drug

It has been said that religion, or belief in God, is an "opiate for the masses", a "drug to kill the pain" of living. When giving up cigarettes, I used to pray and ask God to be my nicotine. But He never did be my nicotine (yes, I know that's not proper grammar, it's ok). God is not a drug. A drug is something that a person is not designed to need, but on which the person develops a chemical or mental reliance. 

This developed dependence is a defect. It is contrary to the way that God made human beings to live. As such, it is a type of bondage. Anything that hinders us from living the life for which God made us; that hindrance is bondage. True freedom is the uninhibited ability to live the life for which our heavenly Father created us. That is why Jesus Christ said that whoever sins is a slave of sin, but that whoever is faithful to Him will be set free by the truth (John 8:31-36). Just as the Old Testament prophecy about Christ said;

"The Spirit of  the Lord God is upon Me,

Because the Lord has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound."

(Isaiah 61:1).

When Jesus first began to teach and to preach in the Galilean synagogues, He read this portion of Scripture aloud and told the congregation that the prophecy was just fulfilled as they listened (Luke 4:16-21). And as the Scriptures also say, "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage."; (Galatians 5:1) "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17).

God is not a drug. To live as He created us in His image to live - by faith, loving and being loved by Him and each other - is not a bondage from which to be delivered. But His good and faithful presence in our lives, and His revelation of Himself to us through His word, is sustenance to our souls; just as food and drink is sustenance to our flesh. As Jesus, quoting from the Torah, said  "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'" (Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3). 

God is not a drug. He is our heavenly Father. He is the spiritual sustenance that is necessary to our souls. His love is not bondage, but freedom. God is love (1 John 4:8). And He made us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of love (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the reason that we, as human beings even have a concept of love. It is built into the core of our being, by God who created us.

God is not a drug to which to say "No". It is in Him that all of us are able to live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). No one has ever lived or done anything without God. Many have used their God-given gifts to disobey Him by doing evil, but in due time He will pronounce His righteous judgment and carry it out against the wicked. In the meantime, He patiently waits, allowing time for sinners to repent and be reconciled to Him by grace, through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.