September 12 – The World vs. God (1 John 2:15-17)

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
(1 John 2:15)

IN WORD:
“God so loved the world…” So begins one of the most familiar verses of the Bible, John 3:16. But if God loved the world, and we are to be like God in our affections, why does John tell us not to love the world? Because “the world” of which Jesus speaks is the beautiful creation of God, including the souls of men & women. But “the world” of which John speaks is the corrupt systems we encounter every day — economic systems, political systems, cultural systems, and more. Anyone who falls in love with these — who wants to hang on to them rather than to pursue the Kingdom of God — has chosen the wrong kingdom. He has forsaken the treasures of God for the trinkets of a sinful humanity.
This is one of the Christian’s most chronic problems. We want friendship with the world and friendship with God. We want to love both. But our desires are like those of a husband who wants to love 2 wives or a wife who wants to love 2 husbands. A one-to-one relationship is corrupted by multiple loves. And God always insists on a one-to-one relationship with us. Though he has the capacity to love billions — He is God, after all — we do not. If He is not our highest affection, we are idolaters and He is jealous. He will not be one of our many treasures. He wants all or nothing.

IN DEED:
Our pursuit of wisdom will compel us to choose between God and our other loves. As much as we’d like to, our hearts cannot balance both God and anything else. And our pursuit of wisdom will dictate which one is the rational choice. It should be obvious that the One who designed us for Himself would leave us unfulfilled with our other suitors. Only He can satisfy, because we were created only for Him.
Do you struggle with dissatisfaction? Perhaps you have invested your affections in something that is ultimately unsatisfying. Forsake it and turn your heart toward God. He alone can fill our hearts.

“The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” -Helen H. Lemmel-