For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8

The basics of sober living have much in common with the Christian walk. It has been a simple, obvious thing to merge them in my own life.

The practices of the faith—study, prayer, fasting, discipleship, confession, repentance, and heart change—are closely mirrored in recovery.

Often, as was the case for me, addiction and sobriety are opportunities to re-examine these tenets under a new, very real and practical light.

It becomes much more palatable to read the Bible and pray when I believe my actual life may actually depend upon it.

There’s one difference of course. And it’s a biggie. Ol’ Jesus.

Recovery takes all the practical stuff of faith and rightly realized that to implement these healthy habits will invariably bring about change, healing and a lot of good.

But Jesus gets left out for the sake of keeping a wider door open for those who would otherwise be closed off to any of our suggestions.

Good news remains, though. As we are guided through the tenets of recovery, we begin to see that the practices really work. That we are supplanting old habits with new ones, old friends with better ones, old ways of thinking with different ones.

We become open to the truth, despite our foggy state of mind. We begin taking directions from someone other than ourselves. We become coachable—even if it’s just a little bit.

And then we choose. Will I choose to believe that maybe there is something to this God-business?

Remarkably, though perhaps unsurprisingly, God seems to find his own initial absence to not be a barrier to work in people’s lives.

Better to find a relationship with Jesus through a program of Jesus-inspired action than not ever follow him in a program centered around Jesus-focused ideas.

God, help me live fully.