Restoration...Lesson Twelve...

 In the natural progression of addiction, life degenerates. In one way or another, many of us wake up one day to realize that we are living like an animal. How true this is depends on the nature of our addictions. Some of us may be living like an animal in terms of our physical surroundings. Others of us may be a slave to our animal passions - powerful emotions that dehumanize us and others.
  A young man took an early inheritance and traveled away from home. When the money was spent, the woman just a memory, and the "high" long gone, he resorted to slopping pigs to earn a meager living. When he became so hungry that he eyed the pigs' slop with envy, he realized he had a problem. "When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, 'At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father...' So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him" (Luke 15:17-18, 20).
  The fact that we are able to recognize our lives as degenerate or insane proves that there is hope for a better way of life. We are reminded of times when life was good, and we long to have that goodness restored. When we turn to God, who is powerful enough to help us build something better, we will discover that his power can restore us to sanity.

Bible Reading Luke 15:11-24