But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬-‭18

It can be tough to swallow the reality that we will be slaves to something. We are compelled to follow—whether that is following ourselves and our desires or that of someone else’s is the only question.

Freedom to do as we want is simple freedom to be bound by our innate, human tendency to pursue happiness, pleasure and fulfillment.

This is great. Unless it refuses to fulfill us.

This is fun. Unless it runs aground on its own inability to continue.

Perpetual happiness is as fleeting an idea as there ever was. Without the ebb and flow of our emotions, how could we even identify it?

For the addicted, this should not take much of a stretch to see. When we were in full pursuit of what we thought would satisfy, it never seemed to last.

We were caught in the pursuit, remembering our first drinks with the nostalgic air of unrequited love.

Hadn’t we glimpsed satisfaction? Hadn’t we tasted a bit of fulfillment when we first started down this path?

We have been in a spiritual hunt. We just didn’t realize it. What we are after is the completeness that is beyond our comprehension. We do long for the eternal. But because we’ve tasted a bit of a polluted version of it, we tumble down this pathway thinking to shortcut ourselves into a peace that takes a lifetime to enter.

There are no shortcuts. And when we sober up, the stark reality of this settles in. Be careful—it pulls at us like a sharp riptide. It wants us back adrift. And our minds desperately need anchoring to keep us ashore.

Our best hope is to give over to the satisfaction of living under His care and rule. As we walk back to the light, we will willingly succumb to its guidance. We will see how good it is to be bound tightly by His protection.

God, give me patience and a strong anchor. Thank you for the opportunity to be a slave to righteousness.