I have struggled with inspiration for a blog so I am simply giving you the third point of Sunday's sermon, which is on 1 John 2:15-17.
The world and its desires are passing away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:17)
The party-girl got all the attention. She had beauty and dressed it well. But then as she grew older those looks matured and younger girls stole the attention from her. We can think that being sexy is the be-all-and-end-all but our body is decaying and we are all heading towards the grave. The world and its desires are passing away.
He thought the new car would make him the envy of his neighbours. But it didn’t make him any more of a man. Indeed after a few years an update of that model came out and suddenly his car looked dated. You could shop-till-you-drop and soon those clothes are out of fashion. The world and its desires are passing away.
She spent her whole life trying to impress. She gained degrees and qualifications. She worked her way right up the career ladder. She had the trappings that went with success including money and a big house. Then she died. Those achievements didn’t qualify her for anything in the afterlife. The world and all its desires are passing away.
How do we battle worldliness? By remembering that the world and its desires are passing away! Looking to the things of this world to satisfy our demand for happiness and meaning is like drinking sea-water to quench a thirst—the thirst doesn’t go away and we eventually die. Obsessing over the things of the world is like playing monopoly—we gather up all that toy-money which is useless once the game is over!
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. Last week we saw that the person who has been born-again ultimately lives to please God. Doing his will is the real evidence that we love him! So we are presented with a choice! ‘Do we focus our lives on selfishly accumulating and on satisfying the desires of sinful nature or do we seek to enjoy God and live to please him?’ In other words, ‘Do we selfishly grasp for that which is hollow and passing or do we live a life of eternal significance and joy?’
The party-girl got all the attention. She had beauty and dressed it well. But then as she grew older those looks matured and younger girls stole the attention from her. We can think that being sexy is the be-all-and-end-all but our body is decaying and we are all heading towards the grave. The world and its desires are passing away.
He thought the new car would make him the envy of his neighbours. But it didn’t make him any more of a man. Indeed after a few years an update of that model came out and suddenly his car looked dated. You could shop-till-you-drop and soon those clothes are out of fashion. The world and its desires are passing away.
She spent her whole life trying to impress. She gained degrees and qualifications. She worked her way right up the career ladder. She had the trappings that went with success including money and a big house. Then she died. Those achievements didn’t qualify her for anything in the afterlife. The world and all its desires are passing away.
How do we battle worldliness? By remembering that the world and its desires are passing away! Looking to the things of this world to satisfy our demand for happiness and meaning is like drinking sea-water to quench a thirst—the thirst doesn’t go away and we eventually die. Obsessing over the things of the world is like playing monopoly—we gather up all that toy-money which is useless once the game is over!
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. Last week we saw that the person who has been born-again ultimately lives to please God. Doing his will is the real evidence that we love him! So we are presented with a choice! ‘Do we focus our lives on selfishly accumulating and on satisfying the desires of sinful nature or do we seek to enjoy God and live to please him?’ In other words, ‘Do we selfishly grasp for that which is hollow and passing or do we live a life of eternal significance and joy?’
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