My Addiction

I am a addicted to books plain and simple.  There are people who are addicted to something: drugs; alcohol; coffee; and TV to name a few things. Yes, there are people addicted to television. They only get a few hours a sleep at night because they need to watch TV. But this is about me and my addiction. I don't just love books I crave it like a caffeine junkie craves coffee. I'm like that man from the classic Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last."

 For all of you who do not know the episode, Burgess Meredith plays bookworm Henry Bemis.  All he wants to do is read but every thing prevents him from losing himself in his books, his job, his boss, and his wife. All he desires is time and to be left alone to read in peace. One day during his lunch break he goes down into the bank vault to read. When he comes back up after his lunch break is over he finds that he is the sole survivor of a nuclear bomb (being in the vault saved him). As he stumbles through the wreckage on the streets he sees the wreckage from the library but the books are intact. He is on cloud nine. he finally has all the time and peace and quiet to read. He starts stacking the books up in order of what books he  would read in each coming month. After he is done stacking the books up he goes back to the first pile to get the book he plans on reading first. As he bends over to pick up the book he is eager to read he stumbles and his glasses fall off and shatter on the concrete steps. Now he is virtually blind. He picks up his glasses and his joy is shattered just as much as his glasses. Devastated he cries out, "That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was--was all the time I needed! It's not fair! It's not fair!"

I am the female version of Henry Bemis. I desire time to read all the time. I go through my daily (necessary) routines desiring for the time I can lose myself into a good book.  I even get aggravated as the day wears on and it doesn't seem I will be able to get to the book I am currently reading, especially if it is an extremely good book like the book I was reading yesterday. I was so involved in that book that I could not put it down long enough to type out a blog post, and today I am suffering from a book hangover because I had stayed up until two in the morning reading Saving Amelie.

So there I admitted it. My name is Theresa and I am a bookaholic.  What if we all were addicted to Jesus as we are to are vices? We are commanded to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV)  I may not be addicted to wine, drugs, or sexual immorality as the Bible clearly speaks about, but I am a slave to something. If I was addicted to Jesus as  I am to my books, I would most likely spend more time in His Word. I don't know how long I will struggle with my "temptation," but I know God has said His Grace is sufficient for me (1 Corinthians 12:9).  I just need to depend on His Grace and Power not to allow my addiction to completely take over my life (or my reality).

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. -- 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)