1 John 2:15-17 ESV
“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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
So, when we are being told here to not love the world, what does that mean for us? It is certainly not telling us to not love the people of the world, for we know that we are to do that. We are even taught in the Scriptures that we are to love our enemies and those who do evil against us, and that we are to pray for them, do good to them, and say and do for them what is beneficial for them in the eyes of God. So, this is not saying to not love the people.
And what does this word “love” mean, biblically speaking? If you look it up in a Greek interlinear, which you can find at biblehub.com and possibly also at biblegateway.com, you will learn that it means “to prefer,” and for the believer in Christ it means “to prefer to live through Christ, embracing God’s will, choosing his choices, and obeying them through his power.” And it “preeminently refers to what God prefers, as he is love.” So this love is defined by God and not by humans. And it is used to also mean “to take pleasure in, to long for, and to esteem” (source: biblehub.com).
With that understanding in mind, this would be like saying, “Do not prefer the world (over God or anything else that is of God). Do not take pleasure in the world. Don’t long for and esteem the world. So, do not prefer, take pleasure in, long for and esteem the things of the world, either.” For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And this word “desire” also means lust, or unreasonable desire and passionate longing.
For if we lust after the world and the things of the world, and that is what we prefer, and that is what we crave and take pleasure in and esteem, especially above God and his holiness and righteousness, then the love of God is not in us. Do we get what this is saying to us? We can’t be worldly and be people who are going after the pleasures of this world, and have the love of God within us, too. For the one cancels out the other. For we are to be on mission with God and with his will and purpose for our lives, and he is to be our passion and our desire and who we long for.
Now I was brought up in a time when television was just coming on the scene, and although it did provide more access for us to the outside world so that we had more knowledge, perhaps, of what was going on outside the confines of our own lives, along with that came a huge distraction and something to consume our time and our thinking, and something that was entertaining and so we wanted television (TV). We longed to watch our TV shows, which were fairly tame back then. But still TV began to consume much of our time and thoughts and emotions, which was the plan.
And many years later came the internet, and then home computers, and then tablets, and then cellular phones, and then smartphones (pocket size computers, in reality). And now we are connected to the outside world 24/7, if we want to be, and we are continually being bombarded with all sorts of information, most of which is garbage, if truth be told, if we let that happen. And now, if we give in to it, our minds are being saturated with all that is worldly. And this is a big window for Satan and the powers that be to control our thinking, and it is working, too.
For watch how many people, including Christians, immediately accept what they hear, or what they hear coming from certain sources they have been programmed to accept as truth. And they jump right on “the bandwagon”, and they join right in with others in doing or supporting something that is being marketed to them as truth, even Christians getting angry with their fellow Christians over things that might not even exist, in reality, but is all being acted out for us on the screen we are viewing. And then many Christians are letting “the screen” tell them what is truth, and not God.
Now, TV and the internet can serve good purposes, such as providing a place for us to share the truth of the gospel with people across the world, and a way for us to connect with the body of Christ across the world, too, and as an avenue to minister to Christians all over this planet, and to pray for them, and to encourage them. So, it isn’t all bad. But it has to be controlled, and it has to be brought under the command of God so that we are not being consumed by the world and thus neglect God and his purposes for us on this earth. For so many professing Christians are being consumed by the world and worldly thinking, and they are not serving the Lord the way they ought.
And oftentimes God gets put on a shelf, and he is used when they need something, but he is not Lord of their lives. He is not the one filling their minds with what is godly and holy and pure, for their minds are being consumed by what is unholy and ungodly and impure. And then what they are taking in is what they give out. And then they let TV and internet preachers be the Bible for them, or they let movies and films and videos and such be the Bible for them. But a lot of them have so diluted and altered the gospel and the character of God/Christ, that they are leading the people astray to believe what is not of God, but a lie from hell.
So, we need to take this to heart. And we must guard our minds and hearts against being consumed by the thinking, reasoning, beliefs, and attitudes of this sinful world and of worldly professing Christians, too. So, we must let the Lord guide what we do and what we take in, and we must listen to him when he gently tells us “no,” instead of keep going. And we must surrender our lives to him to do his will for our lives so that he is now the one controlling our thoughts and emotions and passions and desires, instead of the flesh controlling our thinking and feelings and desires.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Wait!
An Original Work / February 8, 2014
Wait for your Lord. Be of courage.
Be strong and take heart today.
God is always watching o’er you.
Trust Him with your life always.
Sing of your Lord. Praise His blessings.
Believe in His sovereignty.
He delivered you from your sin;
Gave you life eternally.
Rest in your Lord. Know His promise.
Beneath His wings rest secure.
Your God has a plan and purpose.
Let your faith in Him endure.
Trust in your Lord. He’ll not leave you,
Because He is faithfulness.
He will lead and guide; protect you.
In His love you can find rest.
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