Day 70: What In the World Is Worldliness?
Read: 1 John 2:15 - 17
"My Momma always said there would be days like these but she never told
me that there could be so many -- and all in a row!" I asked her one
time why this had to be so and all she told me was - "I guess it's just
the way of this world that we are forced to live in." My Father
would say to me "My son, you aren't playing on the playground of life
anymore!" Others may have told you that "this is where the rubber of
life meets the road to reality!" Still others may quip "Guess what,
Toto, you are not living in the state Kansas anymore!" What does it
mean in the grand scheme of this thing called life to sit back and
acquiesce, to submit yourself to "It is only the way of this world?"
Whether you are a believer in a benevolent God or not, it does not take
very long in life for anyone of any age to realize that life is not
very orderly and seldom goes as one would allow themselves to accept. As
the age old saying goes "life is a bowl of cherries." Which is true
until someone hands you your very first bowl of cherries and you
discover that not all cherries are going to taste the same. Some will be
sweet, some will be so incredibly sour that the muscles of your face
will contract and contort every which way in response. Then you will
discover one more thing: cherries have a pit right in the middle of them and it isn't the least bit pleasant when biting into one!
Very soon after you become a Christian you discover that the Christian
life no longer resembles life played on a playground, it is now fought
and lived on a battleground. You make the single most shocking discovery
that to live the Christian life is not a bowl of cherries, but that you
have become enrolled and embroiled in an intense live fire struggle.
These verses today focus in on the world and the Bible says very clearly
that we are not to love the world, neither the things that are in the
world. What does the Bible mean when it talks about worldliness? What do
we mean when we talk of being a worldly individual? What about this
notion that we are only here just to exist?
God created the
world so that we should do more than simply exist. God made for us an
incredibly dazzling array of living things and a thriving planet
perfectly suited for us because God desires us to flourish. Genesis 3:16
- 19 serves to reminds us that when sin entered the world that life got
a whole lot tougher. As you grow older in this adventure called life you likewise noticing yourself becoming that much the wiser to the world and that much more susceptible to the irresistible irrepressible spiral of
earthly decay not the possibility of living forever in heaven through
the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. Instead of focusing on the decaying treasures this world offers, focus on eternal love.
Let Us Pray: Father, Help me to overcome my love of the world and its
things. Your word says that your love cannot be in the person who loves
the world. The desires of the eyes, the desires of the flesh, the pride
in possessions are not from you. Father, through Jesus you have given me
eternal life, so the temporary, passing things of this world are in
congruent with my station as your child. Teach me to do your will.
Increase my love for you. Increase my faith for you. Increase my eternal
hope in You.
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Read: 1 John 2:15 - 17
"My Momma always said there would be days like these but she never told me that there could be so many -- and all in a row!" I asked her one time why this had to be so and all she told me was - "I guess it's just the way of this world that we are forced to live in." My Father would say to me "My son, you aren't playing on the playground of life anymore!" Others may have told you that "this is where the rubber of life meets the road to reality!" Still others may quip "Guess what, Toto, you are not living in the state Kansas anymore!" What does it mean in the grand scheme of this thing called life to sit back and acquiesce, to submit yourself to "It is only the way of this world?"
Whether you are a believer in a benevolent God or not, it does not take very long in life for anyone of any age to realize that life is not very orderly and seldom goes as one would allow themselves to accept. As the age old saying goes "life is a bowl of cherries." Which is true until someone hands you your very first bowl of cherries and you discover that not all cherries are going to taste the same. Some will be sweet, some will be so incredibly sour that the muscles of your face will contract and contort every which way in response. Then you will discover one more thing: cherries have a pit right in the middle of them and it isn't the least bit pleasant when biting into one!
Very soon after you become a Christian you discover that the Christian life no longer resembles life played on a playground, it is now fought and lived on a battleground. You make the single most shocking discovery that to live the Christian life is not a bowl of cherries, but that you have become enrolled and embroiled in an intense live fire struggle. These verses today focus in on the world and the Bible says very clearly that we are not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world. What does the Bible mean when it talks about worldliness? What do we mean when we talk of being a worldly individual? What about this notion that we are only here just to exist?
God created the world so that we should do more than simply exist. God made for us an incredibly dazzling array of living things and a thriving planet perfectly suited for us because God desires us to flourish. Genesis 3:16 - 19 serves to reminds us that when sin entered the world that life got a whole lot tougher. As you grow older in this adventure called life you likewise noticing yourself becoming that much the wiser to the world and that much more susceptible to the irresistible irrepressible spiral of earthly decay not the possibility of living forever in heaven through the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. Instead of focusing on the decaying treasures this world offers, focus on eternal love.
Let Us Pray: Father, Help me to overcome my love of the world and its things. Your word says that your love cannot be in the person who loves the world. The desires of the eyes, the desires of the flesh, the pride in possessions are not from you. Father, through Jesus you have given me eternal life, so the temporary, passing things of this world are in congruent with my station as your child. Teach me to do your will. Increase my love for you. Increase my faith for you. Increase my eternal hope in You.
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