15 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Not long ago I was sitting in a men's group as we were studying this passage together. Our leader asked each of us to share from the perspective of our careers what things demonstrate our success. It was amazing how many of us in that group are evaluated, not so much on the quality of our work, but rather on the quantity of the things we sell, the people we manage, and the money we bring in. I shared with the group that in my business we call it the Three B's - buildings, budgets, and baptisms. After we had all shared, our leader said, "These things - the things we just talked about - are the things of this world. They want to be loved."
Today's Scripture talks about not loving the things of this world. I doubt any of us in the group would outright say we "love" the Three B's or their equivalents. But when I pause to think of my own life, I see how attached I am to finding myself - my worth as a person - in these things. That attachment does become a kind of love - demanding my fidelity and constant attention. Finally it becomes a god which claims my very soul.
The Scripture says, "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." What is meant here, is that in our ever-constant pursuit of the things which make for success in this world, we end up drowning out the things which make for eternal life in God.
I will resolve to put first things first today. For as Jesus said elsewhere, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?" Or, as a contemporary interpretation might have it, what good is it to win the rat race and become a rat?
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