1st John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
This passage of scripture cautions us not to become attached to the things of this world, whether they be lusts, inordinate desires and practices, or material things. Jesus is supposed to be the center of the Christian's joy, and whatever we hold in higher esteem, and whatever consumes more of our interest, will put us at risk of losing our souls. This is the essence of what John is saying in the passage, and it has direct relevance for us who are living in the twenty first century, who are constantly being bombarded with the dazzling things of earth, and wealth and possessions and achievements and new electronic gadgets which seem to be coming out too fast for us to become adapted to.
The rich young ruler suffered severely from this problem of "loving the world", for when he was faced with a choice of either Christ or his material possessions, the scripture states that he went away sorrowful, and chose material benefits over eternal realities. The problem was not that he did not love God, the problem was that he loved both God and mammon at the same time, and whenever this is the case, the love of mammon will sooner or later override the love we have for God, if the problem is not addressed and a definite, deliberate choice for Jesus is made. Let's read:
Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
One of the issues of our day that consumes the interest and valuable time of millions of people, is our addiction to those new and fanciful electronic gadgets which are introduced ever so often, and which seem to peak our interest much more than Christ and spiritual things. In other words, when we evaluate the time spent with these electronic "gods", and the time spent with Christ, we often see that Christ is given leftovers, whilst our electronic gadgets are given prime time. Whenever a new Apple device, or similar gadget is to be released, we observe that many people stand in line for days, sometimes in the heat or snow, so that they can be the first to purchase the coveted item.
But if there was an evangelistic crusade in the same area, or if there was a call to prayer and Bible study, most of those same people would hardly bat an eye, for in their estimation, the newest gadget is of more value than time spent with God. Thus we have an imbalance in our lives, in that the things of this world are permitted to usurp valuable time and resources that are supposed to be directed to the building up of God's kingdom on the earth.
One day whilst in church, a gentleman was observed on his knees, in an apparent attitude of prayer, but with his cellphone to his ears, causing us to wonder if it was Jesus on the mainline. If we find ourselves not being able to put down our electronic gods for a while, to spend quality time with our Maker, and if we find ourselves becoming frantic, discombobulated and desperate whenever these gadgets are misplaced, it's because they mean a whole lot to us, and thus the question is, do we become so desperate and frantic if our time spent with God is disturbed, or do we panic over the thought of losing Jesus, the same as we would, a cell phone or an I-pad?
The answer to these questions lie within our hearts, but our passage for today teaches us that the love of this world and the things that are therein, must never be allowed to take the first place in our desires or estimation, for if we permit them to, they will certainly choke the word, and thus we will become unfruitful. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to put Jesus first in our affections, and all the other material, financial and social issues will fall into their rightful place. Let's read:
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word. God bless!