Deuteronomy 6:5 - You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

When we hear the word "addict" we are quick to think of someone who uses drugs, or is an alcoholic, or possibly even someone who can't stop gambling. Out of curiosity, I did a Google search on "addiction". It came back with over 67 million pages. If you start scanning through the results, you can find pages that talk about addiction to all sorts of other things: sex, Starbucks, shopping, video games, food, work, the internet... The list just keeps on going.

“And the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘You have circled this mountain long enough.’” Deuteronomy 2:2-3

The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, enough time for a new generation to be born and raised up. Towards the end of their journey, they circled Mount Seir for many days prior to passing through the final lands necessary for them to reach the promise land. A few more roads to travel, a few more battles to fight, but they were almost home. I wonder what thoughts went through their heads as they were circling that mountain, over and over again. Was it safer to stay where they were, instead of moving ahead? Is that why God specifically spoke to Moses, telling him it was time to move on?

Mankind is broken and deeply flawed. He may not even be aware of the depth of his brokenness despite the evidence all around him. Or, being afraid to let others see it, he hides it deeply inside (even from himself) and boasts and swaggers, pretending to be something he is not and to possess something he does not have, substituting willfulness for the truth. He is afraid to let others close - they might see him as he really is. So afraid that when the truth is known he won't be loved.