Contemplative Bible Reading

1 John 2:15-17 (New International Version)

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Several points in this passage caught my attention this morning. The first is If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

This tells me that you either love the world or you love the Father – God.

What does this mean to love the world or to love the things in the world? There is much good in the world as it is God’s creation. What is it in the world that is evil, that we are not to love?

Let’s look at verse 16, the part without the dash. For everything in the world comes not from the Father but from the world.

What is it that comes from the world that is to be avoided by the person wishing to love and follow God?

This took my thoughts back to Genesis chapter 6 before the flood.

Genesis 6:5 (New International Version)

5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

When left to himself, man had degenerated in his heart and thoughts. Every inclination was only evil all the time. Notice the use of three absolute terms in one statement. The verse says every, only, and all. A writer would not do this unless it were true and the writer were certain. This is a terrible condemnation of the state of man at the time.

So what is it in the world that is in great opposition to God? I look back to verse 16 of 1 John 2 to the part of the verse inside the dashes. the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does… The King James Version gives these three as

1. the lust of the flesh, and
2. the lust of the eyes, and
3. the pride of life

This is what is in the world that opposes God. This is what the Christian is to avoid and instead turn towards God.

The lust (the intense yearning and desire) for what the flesh feels, for what the eyes see, and the pride of life. The http://dictionary.com gives pride as a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct,

These are the things that separate us from God. The intense yearning for what feels and looks good. (Yikes! Those things fade fast as does the ability to feel and see them.) The inordinate opinion of myself (“look at me – I am great”).

Yes, we are not to love these things in the world.