Wanting the World
1 John 2:15,16 Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. This is all there is in the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. But none of these comes from the Father. They come from the world.
Duplicity is one of the most dangerous things that we can allow to creep into our lives – especially when the person we’re deceiving is ourselves. We say we believe in Jesus, but we live our lives as though we don’t.
We all tend to view the Gospel of Christ through the lens of our present reality. If you live in a largely affluent society as do I, you tend to see the Gospel through that lens of affluence. Those in poor circumstances see the Gospel through their lens of poverty and aspiration. People who are oppressed see the Gospel of Christ through the lens of their desire for liberation … and so on.
The point is that, amidst the reality of our present circumstances, we can end up longing for the things of this world far more than we desire to see the kingdom of God, the lordship of Christ, growing in our lives, transforming our worldview and our behaviour. That’s the truth of the matter. So … reality check:
1 John 2:15,16 Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. This is all there is in the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. But none of these comes from the Father. They come from the world.
Now there’s a course correction if ever I heard one. What lens do you see the Gospel of forgiveness and repentance through? To what degree do your worldly desires and aspirations prevent you from being transformed into the kind, gentle, humble, generous individual that Jesus wants you to be?
Don’t love this evil world or the things that are in it.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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