Hayley DiMarco - Obsessed: Breaking Free from the Things That Consume You

2012 by Hungry Planet

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2012

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ISBN 978-1-4412-4022-4

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

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Contents

The Obsessed Soul

Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. Gods gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

God must be all or he is nothing. God cant do all unless you expect him to do all. And you cant expect him to do it all until you are obsessed with him and him alone. No other obsession, no question, can come between you and your God.

Hayley DiMarco

O bsessed. Consumed. Controlled. Devoted. Ruled .

The obsessed are undeterred.

They are unstoppable.

Nothing keeps them from the object of their obsessionnot fire, not danger, not fear, not humiliation, nothing.

To be obsessed is to want one thing more than anything else.

To be consumed with thoughts of whatever obsesses you.

To be unable to walk away.

To be mastered and possessed by desire for the object of your obsession and the rewards for attaining it.

To be obsessed is to do all you can to serve your passion. Obsession is the fuel that can change lives for both good and bad. Obsession determines destiny . The obsessed are unparalleled in their ability to focus on and to achieve whatever they are fixated on. And because of that they are also unparalleled in their ability to change the world around them for the better or to mess it up royally.

The obsessed follow hard after their passion. They do this because of the great reward they are receiving or hoping to receive when they do. They have big goals, big dreams, and big hopes. They will put all their eggs in one basket, lay it all on the line, and go all in for the thing they love because they are convinced the payoff makes all the suffering and strain worth it.

The Fame of Obsession

Leonardo da Vinci was obsessed with sketching everything he thought, saw, or imagined. Amelia Earhart was obsessed with flying. Julia Child was obsessed with cooking. Florence Nightingale was obsessed with medicine.

Obsession is behind many of the famous accomplishments throughout time, even the biblical ones. When God told Abraham to kill his son, Abraham made preparations to do just that. He was so obsessed with one thing and one thing onlylove for his Godthat nothing could change his mind, not even the cries of his beloved son (see Gen. 22). Abraham was obsessed.

When Noah gave up everything else in his life to do something as crazy as building a huge ship in his front yard (see Gen. 6), the people laughed and jeered. They scorned him and doubted him. But for some fifty years he continued building the monstrosity that made him look like a fool. He did what his God commanded, because he was consumed with God and God alone. Noah was obsessed.

Even though the apostle Paul had been beaten, shipwrecked, starved, and imprisoned because of his preaching, he wouldnt stop (see 2 Cor. 11:2427). The only thing he lived for, breathed for, and even died for was Jesus. Paul was obsessed.

Obsessions are memorable, if only to the obsessed. Sold out devotion makes a difference, and no matter what the object, devotion will have its end in either good or evil. For many obsessed people, devotion has an ugly end. In dark lives like those of the criminally or neurotically obsessed, we see tragedy of epic proportions. The alcoholics craving destroys his life and the lives of those he loves. The drug addicts habit does the same. The one fixated on stuff ends up with nothing. And the one who obsesses over love ends up alone. The degree and manner of obsession reveal a lot about the future of the obsessed. And the obsessed make history when their passion is all consuming.

Faith Is Obsessed

Obsession colors our lives, changes them, and directs them. Thats why this issue is so important to God. In fact, obsessed would be an accurate descriptor of the Christian believer. Dont agree? Think obsession is only reserved for the few? Youve got to think again, because Jesus made it clear when he said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27).

These words epitomize the life of the obsessed: giving all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength to one thing. You were made to be obsessedobsessed with your Creator . That is why obsession comes so naturally. Its how you are wired; its what you were meant for. You were designed to love God with all your strength. Without obsession, faith isnt possible . Thats why Jesus had to push the subject further by saying, None of you can be my disciples unless you give up everything (Luke 14:33 GW). See, this love for God compels you to give up everything in favor of your one obsession. Thats why Jesus says these hard-to-swallow words in Matthew 10:37: The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple (GW). The one obsessed with God puts nothing before himnot even the people she loves.

Jesus has so much to say about this stuff, and he made a foundational statement when he told us that we cant have two obsessions: No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second (Matt. 6:24 GW). The obsessed serves her master, and she cannot serve two masters. We can either be obsessed with God or something else. If you claim two obsessions, then you are not truly obsessed with both. No one is obsessed part time . Obsession is continual.

Our Obsessed History

Those who have come before us who have been obsessed with God have laid the foundation of faith that we now stand on. Perhaps no one did this more than the apostle Paul, who spent the entire second half of his life writing the inspired words of the New Testament and preaching salvation to the masses. Like Paul, the truly obsessed can honestly say that whether I eat or drink, or whatever I do, I do everything to the glory of God (see 1 Cor. 10:31). He is their obsession.