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Post Info TOPIC: Running And Buying And Selling (8:9-10)


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Running And Buying And Selling (8:9-10)
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Ephraim has sold herself to lovers. Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.

(Hosea 8:9-10)

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Ephraim has sold herself to lovers. I was walking down the parking lot today and I saw a man by the side of the building yelling into the cell phone. He was so angry from a good twenty feet away I could see him shaking. I mean, his whole body is shaking. Has he sold himself to rage?

I know a neighbor who almost never comes out of his apartment. I try to talk with him sometimes, but I don't think I have ever seen him sober. He lives off his social security checks and only comes out, that I know of, to go to the laundromat and as his clothes are being washed he'll go next door to the gas station and buy food and alcohol. Lots of alcohol. He has told me he doesn't really ever fall asleep. He just drinks until he passes out and then starts again in the morning. Has he sold himself to alcoholism?

I know a young friend who shops. Every time she gets excited she goes shopping. If she's depressed shop. If she's happy shop. Every event or circumstance in her life is an excuse to buy something and if there is no good excuse well, there's got to be a good sale somewhere. She is fortunate to have well to do parents, but I wonder how long before she bankrupts them. Has she sold herself to consumerism?

I have an addictive personality. I lose myself in different things sometimes. Last year I read the entire Wheel of Time Series in a little over three weeks. That's eleven books, between 800-1000 pages each. This past week or so my life was playing Civilization 4. It takes a good 20-25 hours to beat the game. I just played it through 3 times. I figure that was an average of 6-7 hours a day. It is a form of escapism. Have I sold myself to it? Why am I running? What from?

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But running is what we do. The rage, the shopping, the alcoholism, the TV, the gaming, the you fill in the blank. We all have our little defense mechanisms. We have to be moving going doing. Why? Why do we sell ourselves to our various lovers? Is it because we cannot bear to come face to face with God? Is the reality of truth to difficult for us to bear?

In the meantime, our running our selling has wasted away the heart and soul of our society. Yesterday is proof positive of that. We have a troubled young man, Cho Seung-Hui who tried to run away from society. He kept bottling himself away and when it built up there were moments of violence. Sometimes in his writings, sometimes in movies he helped to create, sometimes in things he said. Eventually one of those moments led to the murder of over thirty other classmates and professors (including one who had survived the holocaust). And he ran one more time. This time, not just from society, but from life. Had he sold himself to rage? To bitterness? In a note left behind he railed against "rich white kids" and debauchery on campus. To depression? He was on antidepressants.

One thing I know, in the note he said, "You caused me to do this." In a way that is true, because when we sell ourselves to another, we are no longer our own. It is what the Bible calls being a slave to sin. But on the other hand, we are still responsible. After all, we are the ones who sold ourselves away. Nobody else had the ability to do it.

The good news is, God can buy us back. It is what Hosea did when his wife sold herself away. It is what Jesus did when we did the same. We can't buy ourselves back. We are no longer "free" to do so. Only He has the ability to do so. The question is, are we willing to let Him? Or are we still selling ourselves to our lovers? Are we still running? From what? Why?

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-- Edited by Beejai at 02:00, 2008-09-09

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Laura

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RE: Running And Buying And Selling
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I've noticed too that everyone has their own little defense mechanism.  Shopping, drugs, gambling, compulsive exercise, lots of various things we use to distract ourselves.  I asked my psychologist sister what a good defense mechanism would be, what people are 'supposed' to do when they're upset.  She says they can listen to music, or take a bath, or go see friends.    I don't know how great those methods are.  I think we are in an instant gratification society.

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Robalicious

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Legit man.  To be honest, almost everytime someone in the Young Life group posts something, I disregard it because it's usually terrible.  This was a very well-written and well thought-out blog.  Thanks!

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Pony Girl

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The religion bent is surely one way to interpret this, but it isn't mine. I am not a believer in any god, and in fact most of the religious takes on this have painted this individual as a "Manifestation of Evil."

Something, somehow just went wrong. And yes, I can appreciate that there are problems in our society; from the ones you mentioned like alcoholism and shopping addictions, and there's eating disorders and ASBO types and all kinds of wrongness out there.

I believe that part of it stems from our constant longing to find happiness from something outside of ourselves. In the end, we are responsible for our own happiness and well being.

However, the more that comes to light about this individual, it is increasingly difficult to accept him as "normal." He was obviously mentally unbalanced, and so it might be unfair to apply our standards of normality to him.



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Marc

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So, when is the book? And when will we see impulse as slavery instead of freedom?

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Dmitriy

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HJIUIZbqiaIiIv
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The hoesnty of your posting shines through

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