These three driving passions (flesh-wanting our own way: eyes-wanting everything we see; pride of life-wanting to appear important) are attached to a world that is destined to crumble under the weight of eternity. Everything from social media to music, commercials, and entertainment tends to feed these desires. Never in history of humans have we had such intimate access to people with whom we have no relationship. When people have a hard time connecting with people they can see (their friends and families), it is not surprising that connecting with a God they cannot see would pose a challenge.
But whoever does the will of God abides forever. (I John 2:17)
To detach from this world, we lay down our will and embrace God’s. In Him we find the cure for these dangerous attachments.
You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your passion, all your energy, and your every thought. And you must love your neighbor as well as you love yourself. (Luke 110:27 TPT)
When the love of God abounds in your life, this earth’s pull lessens. As I meditate on God and let him love me, I find that I am easier on myself. When I am easier on myself, I am more loving to others. When I am God focused and loving, Then I am much less likely to pursue empty things, because my relationships fill in the gap.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)
I sometimes wonder if we take this Scripture seriously or imagine that it no longer applies in our dispensation of grace. It is hard to imagine anyone ever knowingly choosing to set themselves in opposition to their Creator. Paul dealt with an adulterous people who wanted to live under both the law and grace, and James is addressing those who have an eternal covenant but who like Lot’s wife struggle with a worldly attachment.
Notice this drift begins with but a wish or desire to befriend the world. What exactly is James addressing here? Having friends in this world or even friends who are worldly is not the same thing as befriending the world. We are to be a friend to the world but not friends with the world. The first describes how we relate to the world’s inhabitants; the second is friendship with its system. You will never have authority over what you are under the sway of, or influence of!
We are indeed called to acts of compassion for our world rather than to sympathize with it. This means:
We clothe the naked in the world than get naked with the world.
We feed the hungry in the world rather than hunger for the world.
We are agents of healing who have been called to the bedside of a hurting world, not to be in bed with the world.
Even with individuals, we relate to them as ambassadors of another kingdom where our King’s commands are honored. This means the day will come when this relationship will be challenged.
BOTTOM LINE: To win this crown, we must abandon our rivalry with fear and embrace God’s call to love Him, others, and ourselves.
NEXT UP: And then there is the last crown… the Crown of Life. By all accounts, this could be called the martyr’s crown….
Pages 236-239 Without Rival: Embrace Your Identity and Purpose in an Age of Chaos, Confusion & Comparison. Lisa Bevere. Revell 2016