November 12
“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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever,” 1 John 2:15–17.
Falling in love is very natural for us as human beings. It can be very commendable when one falls in love with the person who will become one’s spouse and with whom one will enjoy a married life for many years and rear a family.
However, through the apostle John, God warns us against falling in love with the world and the things in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – its joys, its riches, its pleasures. These things in the world are not things that God sends to us as a blessing. These are the things that our sinful nature desires and seeks to acquire. We cannot love the world and love God at the same time.
In his First Epistle to Timothy, the apostle Paul gives a comparable warning, and he speaks specifically of those who love the wealth of the world: They stray from the Christian faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. Paul wrote, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows,” 1 Timothy 6:9-10.
The children of this world – the unbelievers, the non-Christians – fall in love with the world and the things that are in the world. They want to have and enjoy the things that please their sinful natures. This can involve many and various things. The apostle Paul wrote of some of these things to the Philippians: “Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things,” Philippians 3:18-19.
There are also many people today whose god is their belly. Basically, all they think of is excessive eating and drinking and entertainment. And their glory is in their shame. They constantly have sexual relations on their minds.
John has another warning: “The world is passing away, and the lust of it.” The time of this world is running out. It’s later than you think! For the sake of our salvation, John adds the words, “But he who does the will of God abides forever.” When he says, “He who does the will of God abides forever,” he is not talking about the Ten Commandments; we do not abide forever by our works. Here, “the will of God” refers to the Gospel. In his Gospel, John wrote, “They said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent,’” John 6:28-29. The call of the hour is, “Turn humbly and penitently to God, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Son and your Savior from sin, death, and the devil!”
“What is the world to me,
With all its vaunted pleasure,
When Thou, and Thou alone,
Lord Jesus, art my Treasure!
Thou only, dearest Lord,
My soul’s Delight shalt be;
Thou art my Peace, my Rest –
What is the world to me?” Amen.