A MATTER OF CHOICE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.

1 John 2:15-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There’s an old wise saying about a Christian that simply proclaims that "we are in the world but not of the world." Maybe you’ve said it or heard it before.

Well, this saying definitely reinforces the scriptures verses we see today in our continued study of 1 John, chapter 2, as the author draws a major distinction in a person’s lifestyle choices which basically are two in number.

First, you can choose to live in the world, a world that offers a buffet table of sinful enticements used by Satan to distance someone from the Lord. We can validate the influence of the enemy over the world by looking later in this letter to verse 19 of chapter 5 where we read this:

The whole world is under control of the evil one.

So if someone is in the world and gaining their greatest pleasures from what the world offers, then they are invested in what Satan gives, the things he controls. It’s been said that a person can end up possessed by their possessions and it’s definitely a wise and true statement, one that has defined way too many people through the ages. Further, the scriptures tell us that a person who loves the world shows others that the “love of the Father” isn’t in them.

Definitely not the place for anyone who professes to be in Christ Jesus, wouldn’t you agree?

This is why the Lord issues the command to “stop loving this evil world” and the word stop means just that. It’s not optional.

Satan, the enemy who controls the world and makes it evil, wants nothing more than for every single created person to be more closely linked to him and the destruction that comes with it than to be saved and rescued by fully associating with Jesus, who already has victory over him. He knows our weaknesses better than we do and will seize every opportunity to exploit any vulnerability. This is why it’s of critical importance to put on the full armor of God every day so to “be strong in the Lord and His mighty power” and “stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:10-17).

This is the will of God the Father, the One we should be loving and dedicating ourselves to, the One who cares for us and protects us and provides for us perfectly. And as we see in the closing words of today’s passage, doing this, the will of God is what will lead us to live forever for it’s His will for everyone to be saved through simple belief in His Son Jesus, the Savior of the world.

So what will it be for you? What choice will you make in your life?

Are you willing to sacrifice an eternal life with the Father by lusting and craving for what the world gives, a world under control of Satan, passing on Heaven for the eternal torment of Hell?

Or will you uncompromisingly commit yourself to the will of God, accepting the most precious gift ever, the gift of salvation, by believing in His Son Jesus who He sent to bear your sins on the cross of Calvary and die so you might be pardoned and have a place in Heaven?

Of course, whichever way you go is up to you but only a fool would pick Hell. Don’t be counted in that number.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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