Sucking Eggs
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. – 2 Peter 1:2-4.
A problem that occasionally occurred on the farm was a dog that discovered he had a taste for eggs. How do you ever break a dog of sucking eggs? An egg-sucking dog is a very serious problem if you are selling eggs or depending upon eggs for your livelihood or for food. I think I remember my mother and dad talking about it very negatively i.e. as in, once a dog starts sucking eggs you can never break him of it. However, as I’ve researched this today I have discovered it is sometimes possible to stop a dog from sucking eggs but it may take ingenious and even, drastic measures to do so. According to my parents, the only cure was to get rid of the dog. Pretty drastic! An ingenious method I read about today was to put pepper in an egg and leave it where the dog can find it easily. Supposedly, having experienced the severe burning taste the dog will then leave eggs alone in the future. Another drastic measure some have recommended is to hang a dead chicken around the neck of the dog leading the dog to develop an aversion to all things related to chickens including eggs.
Some would tell us that if you have an addiction that it is impossible to break you of your sucking eggs. I would suggest that there are better solutions than just putting you out of your misery. However, to break you from your addiction i.e. sucking eggs – it may be necessary to use ingenious and even drastic measures. Because if you have tried over and over to break your addiction without success it is time to try some other way. This is not to suggest that there is a surefire cure that will work every time for every person since every person is unique. So, if you have been hitting your head against the wall to get rid of your headache and it just makes it worse…stop!!
Jesus did suggest some radical measures for the elimination of addictions. He said in Matthew 5:29-30, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Now you have to agree that is pretty radical and very drastic. However, I do not believe that Jesus meant it in a literal sense because there are no records of any church in history having an eye plucking or hand cutting off service. I do believe that Jesus was making it very clear how serious sin and therefore addictions are in the eyes of God. In other words if you are sucking eggs you have a problem that must be dealt with – you cannot just ignore it and hope it will go away. Why? Because it will not go away without ingenious or even drastic measures being taken.
You should be aware that God does have the power and resources necessary to break you of your addiction. The apostle Peter makes this clear when he says, “…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness….” There is a sufficiency in Christ meaning that God has given us through Christ all that is needed to live lives that will be pleasing to God.
Here are a couple of suggestions for how you can break an addiction.
1. Fasting and prayer – Remember, if nothing has broken you of your addiction to this point that you must approach this in the most serious way that you are capable of doing.
Ronnie Floyd the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Arkansas says that fasting is the gateway to supernatural power. Charles Stanley writes in one of his books of a man with a sexual addiction who followed Stanley’s recommendation of fasting for three days and of his being freed from that addiction.
It may take more than three days to break your addiction. It may take more than one fast to break your addiction. It is a powerful supernatural tool, which will result in God moving to help you with whatever your problem may be.
2. Immersion in the resources of God – As much as possible cut yourself off from the world for a period of time and immerse yourself in the reading, memorizing, and meditating upon the Word of God. Spend much time in prayer and spend time with sincere mature Christians. Spend extended times just praising God. Immersion in the resources of God will change your life.
Only God has the power to break you from sucking eggs. He can do it, but only if you want His help and are serious enough to risk the life that you are now living being changed into the life He wants for you.
(It is possible for God to free you from your addiction.)