Friday, February 22, 2019
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love
the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only
a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in
our achievements and possessions. These
are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything
that people crave. But anyone who does
what pleases God will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17(NLT)
It’s amazing how often things just
seem to fall in place. The first thing I
do in the morning (after letting the dogs out to prevent a tragedy) is post the
day’s devotion, on social media. I had
already begun considering what to write about on this text, and the first item
in my Facebook news feed was an article posted by my next-door neighbor, Matt, who
is a police sergeant, as well as worship music leader at his church. The article quoted today’s verses and ended
this way:
We must not
dilute our message, ignore Bible principles, employ worship music that is
dissonant, harsh, sensual and suggestive, or seek to make the church appealing
to the appetites of ungodly people, even to reach them. The true gospel will
never be attractive to the unsaved in general, nor will it ever make them feel
comfortable. Paul declared, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness….” (1 Corinthians 1:18)[ii]
This is so appropriate for how
today’s church attempts to hold the Gospel in worldly hands. It reminds me of gift-wrapping a Jared’s ring
in a garbage bag; the Gospel is too precious to be treated that lightly. And yet, too many pastors and church
leadership buy-into the trap of trying to present the Gospel in inoffensive,
bland ways, when Scripture clearly states just the opposite.
The Gospel represents following
Christ as swimming against the tide, not cruising down the river
the way it wants to take you. Discipleship
is not about ease and getting what you want (as you’re liable to hear when you
tune into the Texas smile hour on Sunday mornings).
John, the beloved disciple, Apostle,
and perhaps the closest to Jesus during His earthly ministry, said to be
careful about the things that appeal to physical pleasure and pride in possessions
or accomplishments; these things are not gifts from the Father in heaven…they’re
temptations from the ruler of Hell.
For You Today
It’s hard to do that…push away
from the physically-appealing, especially when every corner of this world’s
system punches all the right buttons to make the good life of affluence,
ease, and coolness seem like the brass ring to be grabbed!
But this begs the question: Whom you want to please? Pleasing self with physical pleasure,
possessions, and accomplishments will seem just great…for a while; but the end
picture isn’t pretty. Pleasing God by
serving Christ in a surrender of self is what leads to eternity of joy, peace, and
fulfillment.
You chew on that as you hit the
Rocky Road; have a blessed day.
Go To VIDEO
[ii] Paul Alexander, Why We
Don’t Have Contemporary Music In our Church
[iii] Tree image via Pixabay.com
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