Worldliness

This afternoon I started a little book called Worldliness. It is written by several different men and edited by C. J. Mahaney. Already I can tell this will be a good book for me to work through. I'm convicted after the first chapter.

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. 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. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. ~ 1 John 2:15-17

I was convicted in verse 17: "For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh (cravings of sinful man, NIV), the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father..." These are heart issues! It all starts with the heart. I may not be openly "courting" the world, but where is my heart? What about these "little" things in my life that are not really bad, just not as they should be. John Calvin said, "The evil in our desires often lies not in what we want, but in the fact that we want too much." There is much in that thought. How then are we to keep our hearts from worldliness and not let it gain a foothold in our lives? This excited me.

"When someone sets his affections upon the cross and the love of Christ, he crucifies the world as a dead and undesirable thing. The baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear. Fill your affections with the cross of Christ and you will find no room for sin." ~ John Owen

Our focus is to be Christ. We must fight worldliness because it dims our view of Christ. But when we first have Christ as our head and as our life, doesn't everything then fall into place? When we are earnestly seeking His glory and His will to be done we are fighting the heart issues of worldliness. We are dying to self as we strive to keep Christ the center and focus of our lives.

These are my meditations and aims (with God's help) as I begin this book and start the new week.

May you all have a blessed Lord's Day.

posted by Carissa