Thursday 2 Mar 2017

March 2: 1 John 2:15-16

Key Verse: 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Devotion:
I wonder if you have ever sat back and considered what is wrong with the world? Have you ever contemplated why things have gone wrong or tried to figure out who started the decline of various parts of the world? Politicians would have you believe it is one group of people, the police would have you believe it is another group and the residents would blame those who they see doing things wrong in their eyes. Each of us is uniquely created by God but each of us is distinct from others because of the ways in which we choose to live our lives. We are born into a world that is corrupted by sin where so many people are not Christians and where we seemingly have no hope! Or at least that is what it looked like at first!

As long as we know that it is our sin nature which starts the ball rolling, these verses describe the basis by which we are all tempted away from being the new creatures that God would have us to be. Whether we are saved or not, we are still going to be tempted by similar things, it's just that we should be depending on God for our strength after we have accepted Him as our Counsellor and King.

There are three types of temptation: 1. The lust of the flesh. Our over-zealous desire to indulge in all things which excite our pleasures. We just want to be able to do anything and everything because we just want to have fun! We even want to do bad things because they are fun too!  2. The lust of the eyes. Our eyes are the pathway to our hearts and we are sorely tempted by all manner of riches and possessions as well as all manner of corruptions that we care to look at. Little do we know the destruction each of those things does to our spirits.  3. The pride of life. Vanity! The more someone encourages us, the more we want it. The more we get, the more we want. Greed is that final downfall which we never see coming until we are buried by its destructive force! Isn't it amazing how we can break down things into such small categories, yet we never see the dangers approaching until after we are trapped!

Points to Ponder:
Do you like joining in with your friends?

How much of what you do is actually for God's glory?