Purple Rain & Pharmakown

nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.  (Revelation 9:21)

As I write in the quiet stillness of a new day (04/23) the News & Social Media is all a buzz concerning the death of Prince. I must confess I do not recall ever listening to a single song that he did. Not my musical taste.

Having so stated, it is always sad when one dies. Death is a consequence of the curse of the Fall. Like all others following this event, I know very little of the facts surrounding his death. I refuse to speculate. The autopsy will shine the light of Truth on that cause. If the reports that have circulated to this point are true, it will show a relationship to/with narcotic drug use.

Note the verse of Scripture above. The word translated in the ESV ‘sorceries’ is pharmakown, drugs;  (medicine, remedy, drug – Greek Lexicon of The New Testament, Bauer, Arndt & Gingrich, #3, p. 862). This is in the context of the Trumpet Judgments, number 6 as found in Rev. 9. I cite this simply to say that the rampant use of drugs will be an issue when the judgment of the LORD comes.

I my lifetime famous people (Elvis, Michael Jackson, and now Prince among others) have died as a result of attempting to find peace and purpose in life through the futile and empty pathway found in drugs and a variety of other mind numbing substitutes.

While I lament death, I grow weary of the celebratory atmosphere that is consistently ramped up when such a figure dies. If the cause is indeed an over dose of a narcotic, this is a self-induced consequence. It is the reality associated with a life style that incorporates such practices. No surprise here. Just a matter of 'when' not 'if'! The use of opiates and narcotics is an out of control reality in our nation. Thousands of people are addicts and there is a growing litany of deaths each and every day. Rather than celebrate, we should focus on the TRUTH – fulfillment and peace will never be found in a syringe that delivers a short term buzz and ultimately addiction and death. The user becomes a prisoner, a slave, to the pseudo savior of pharmacological deception.

Jesus said, I am The Way, The TRUTH, and The Life. Repent and yield to Him unconditional surrender. Peace is not found in pharmacology or circumstances. It is in the Person of Christ. Each one who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. That is true PEACE!