1 JOHN 2:15-17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

I have heard it many times and in many forms from Christians. Good Christians. Faithful Christians. I even heard it a few times from the guy I greet each morning in the mirror. The words go like this, “I know in my head I should be (fill in the blank with a command of God) but my heart and will just seem to lag behind. I hate this always falling short.” Actually, to hate the gulf between what we know and what we do is a good thing. Listen to the Apostle Paul define the experience “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). So, if we feel this tension, we are in good company. The Christian life is one of constant conflict between desire to please the Lord by obedience and falling short in practice of pleasing the Lord. And aren’t we glad the Lord loves us anyway? And keeps us in His family anyway?

But there is another side of the conversation I sadly have experienced with people. They are not good Christians or faithful Christians. They are rebellious Christians. The words unfold like this, “Yes, I know God commands me to (fill in the blank with a command from Him), but I don’t feel like it and I am not ready to do that.” Such resistance to the Lord is often found in hearts that are unwilling to forgive, unwilling to be restored in relationships, or unwilling to give up known sinful attitudes, actions, and relationships. And that leads us to today’s scripture.

The Apostle John writes a simple, direct, and important command to God’s people. Yes, all His commands are important, but this one has significant consequences if disobeyed. The command is “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” The consequences? I want us to consider two. The first one is in the text itself. If we find our lives habitually embracing the things of the world – all things – with a deeper affection and attachment than what is to be toward the Lord, we should question if we are Christians. The Apostle John says, “We are not” despite what we profess. Do a self-examination. Are the things in this world from pleasures, jobs, material wealth, and human relationships more important to us than the things of the Lord and the Lord Himself? If so, please, for the sake of our eternity find out why and only two answers will be discovered; we are true Christians severely backslidden or we are not Christians at all. Now the second consequence of disobeying the command “Do not love the world or the things in the world” as it applies to true Christians.

Should true believers find themselves consumed and given over to the things of this world to include worldly pleasures and pursuits more than the Lord and His interests, we are misrepresenting the Lord Jesus. What we are setting forth in our homes, churches, and community is a confusing message and marred portrait of the Christian life. Seriously ponder this. We have the greatest privilege in all the world; give testimony of the Living God through the message and Person of Jesus Christ. And that testimony is only valid when it flows from lives loving the next world more than this one!

PRAYER: “Father, protect me from following my own desires and the pleasures of the world.”

QUOTE: “Look to find in the world what is only in Christ and you will be greatly disappointed – always.”