Read with Me
1 John 2:15-17 (HCSB)
Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.
Listen with Me
John lays out a clear dichotomy between love for the world and love for the Father. And in his view, the two cannot share space in a person’s heart. One will always oppose and try to push out the other.
John gives three elements of love of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle, boasting of what a person has or has done. All three of these are focused on the present material world, and thus are focuses that are diametrically opposed to the holiness and eternity of the Father.
The lust of the flesh and the lust of their eyes are closely related and are both focused on indulging our feelings our fleshly desires. Such a focus on indulging the appetites of the body and the lust of the heart weaken not only the physical body, but also more importantly the soul. The focus on things of the world eliminates the necessary focus on the things of the spirit, and on eternal things that are necessary for spiritual life and spiritual health.
The same can be said of the third worldly focus pride in one’s lifestyle, the boasting about what one has and does. Many are quite proud of what they have accumulated in their lives. But they must realize that no matter how much they amass, they won’t be taking a stick of it with them when they stand before God at the last judgment. All will be left to others, who might easily lose it, waste it, or destroy it (Ecclesiastes 2:21). And taking pride in what one has done in this world is ultimately of no greater value. Every world record is eventually eclipsed by one who comes later, and those who came before are quickly forgotten.
As John points out, the world and everything in it is destined to pass away, to be consumed by fire (2 Peter 3:10). Only those things that are done in fulfillment of God’s kingdom agenda will have an impact that will last for all eternity. So, that must be the focus of all who serve God.
Pray with Me
Father, this is a necessary corrective for our time as well. As people turn away from a focus on You and Your kingdom, our focus naturally turns to things of this world, amassing money, amassing stuff, and gaining a powerful reputation. But those things are transitory, ephemeral, and will do us absolutely no good when we stand before You on judgment day. Help me, Lord, to keep my eyes focused always on the things that matter most to You, on the eternal stuff. Someone, perhaps Dwight Moody, once said, “God, the Word of God, and the souls of men. These three alone are eternal. And insofar as a man is involved in these things, he is involved with eternity.” Help me to continually be involved in the eternal things, and to let the things of the flesh go. Amen.