Hijacked

When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. 2 Chronicles 21:4

In addiction medicine, we talk about how drugs hijack the user’s brain. This isn’t an excuse, but rather, an explanation that makes a lot of sense. When I first indulged in the drug, I opened a door in my brain. Once the drug was in, it eventually assumed control and made my decisions for me. Previously, I tried to live according to right and wrong. No more. With the drug, all my decisions were made according to that which maintained my addiction. Lying? Normally, I would have considered that wrong. In my addiction though, it simply became a necessary behavior to continue my drug use. Honesty would have meant discovery and that would have put an end to my drug use, forcing the painful process of getting sober. So, even though it destroyed trust with those closest to me, I had to lie – because the drug hijacked my brain and the drug was in charge.

Again, it’s not an excuse, but rather, an explanation for how someone can easily justify such terrible things. Though it didn’t involve drugs, today’s passage tells a story of how King Jehoram’s commitment to power dominated his decisions, causing him to destroy himself and everyone around him. Though his father had followed God, when Jehoram became king, he followed pagan gods. Abandoning God, he knew he was on his own and he knew he had to do whatever it took to maintain control. This commitment to power dominated his decisions. I’m sure he knew it was wrong to murder his brothers, but when he felt his throne was threatened, he had them killed. What he knew to be evil became necessary because he had no morality except his need to maintain power. The passage goes on to graphically describe how Jehoram lost his family and died in great agony when, his bowels came out (2 Chronicles 21:19). Jehoram’s lust for power caused him to embrace evil behavior that destroyed him and everyone around him.

We may never be royalty, and we may never slay our siblings, but still, when we indulge in any sin that we find attractive, we open a door in our brain. Once the door is opened a crack, that sin barges in, sets up, and begins to make decisions for us. When we look at porn, we must begin to hide, lie, and protect our porn use. Behavior that we once considered wrong becomes necessary to protect our porn. Whatever our sin is, once we let it in, it hijacks our brain and begins to make our decisions for us. We may tell ourselves that one little sin is no big deal. I can do it and then stop. I can get away with it. Sin though, has other ideas. Sin intends to hijack our brains, causing us to destroy ourselves and everyone close to us.