Things in the world

Good Morning,

1 John 2:15-17 (NRSV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

We are told today, in these verses, that we need to look at those things we long for, desire, covet, and, well, love. Now, this doesn't mean to look at the people in our lives and those we love. It means that we ought to take meaningful and very careful look at those things that dominate our lives. You know, those things that make us say, "Oh, I simply cannot live without (fill in the blank here)."

John tells us that there are things in our lives..."the things in the world"...that we ought not to love. That's because those "things" do nothing to help us in our Christian walk and that people who are caught up in "things" do not have the love of God in them. God tells us here, through the words John wrote, that "all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father but from the world." Now there are many who say that those "things", we might call them comforts or enjoyments, are harmless in and of themselves and don't really matter much. But if we look closely at this...the "from the world" part...we might think about it a bit differently.

What exactly is the problem here with these things from the world? Well, the Bible tells us something about who runs the world that we live in. We read in several places in the Bible about the "prince of this world" and pertains to the devil. So, it seems that the things which John writes about are those things that come from the enemy and take our focus away from God. So much of what we think is fine and good and fun are those things that we ought to steer away from. The devil will put that which seems harmless in our lives so as to take us away from God in some way.

"For all that is in the world--the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches--comes not from the Father." Don't you agree that this seems pretty clear as to what we need to be careful of? It surely speaks to me in that way. The devil is of the world and puts these desires in front of us. Sometimes seemingly innocuous things that don't come to much all by themselves. But, added together, one on top of another, day after day, on and on, well, then those "things" that John writes of, the things in the world, begin to take the place of God in our lives. Simply because we don't have any time left over...after the "things"...for God. Our days begin to be filled with the desire for gaining this or that new and marvelous "thing" that everyone else seems to have. And so it goes. One tiny bit after another. Taking away from God a most important aspect of our lives...our time.

So, we really do need to look at what it is we love in this world. We need to see what is taking our time away from God. Then, perhaps, we need to make some changes. You think?

Love, peace, and blessings,

David