Love Not the World

I'm sure you know the feeling quite well. In our lives, we all experience terror at one point or another. The terror of being homeless. The terror of ending up locked behind bars. The terror of losing a loved one. The list of things we fear is endless.

I'm not sure what you're most terrified of, but I'm terrified of messing up. I know that may sound strange to you. There are many things to fear in this life. Many horrors to keep us awake at night. The state of our world. The leaders of this world. Natural disasters. Disease. War. Hunger.

My fear has nothing to do with the external and everything to do with my heart.

My fear comes from the desire to please God. I have a healthy fear of the one who breathed life into my lungs. I'm terrified of forgetting the past. I'm terrified of forgetting all the things God has done for me. I'm terrified of leading someone astray. I'm terrified of displeasing my Creator and causing Him to feel disappointment toward me. I'm terrified that He will ask me to do something I deem impossible and I won't rise to the occasion. Most of all, I'm terrified that I am capable of the unthinkable. Like David.

I believe that we are all good at our core. In this day and age, that's quite a statement to make. We are surrounded by evil on every corner. I can't turn on my television without witnessing something immoral or wrong. I can't walk out my front door without seeing a neighbor barely clothed in their front lawn. I can't go into a business without hearing the unclean talk of the people in my community. I can't go to the grocery store without seeing half-naked photos of some celebrity at the beach in the check-out line. Honestly, I could write an entire post on this alone. Not to get off topic, but I will turn the magazines around. Because the amount of young children who walk through that same line will see them if I do not. And it breaks my heart that this is what they're exposed to in a place they go with their families to buy food. It's disgusting.

The world in which we live is doing everything it can to deter me from my Creator. It will stop at nothing to fill my eyes, my ears, and my mind with impure images, words, and thoughts. That's what scares me. It scares me that if I'm not focused on Heaven, then I might be consumed by the world. I believe we all can be placed in that position. If that doesn't scare you, if you are not terrified by the thought that you are O.K. with these things, then I think it's safe to say you are polluted by this world. Friend, now is the time to turn your eyes from those things. Now is the time to re-evaluate your life.

My pastor said something so insightful that everybody should hear it. "The world will tell you that it loves and accepts you as you are. But it is the world--not God--who will keep reminding you of your past." Those are the words of a career criminal who was saved in a jail cell. He has gone on to have 9 beautiful children, a wonderful wife, a ministry that is focused on serving God and a testimony that is one of the most heart-warming miracles I've ever heard. He is not perfect, but that's why I love sitting in a pew every Sunday morning and hearing God work through him. Because if God can do it with him, he can do it with me.

And God can do it with you, too.

The question is: are you ready to be done with the world? Are you willing to give up the things of this world so you can be blessed with the things of God?

--Jessica