The small groups guy where I work told me the other day that when he asked his wife what she would take with her should their house catch on fire--except for their kids, of course--she said, "My dad's journal."
Ok. Confession time. I tried writing a journal several years ago and didn't care for it. It seemed to me too much like a diary. However, I've decided to start anew, and this time, I'm writing it with my grandchildren in view. Each child will get a year's worth of grandpa's journal. Its pages will contain the wondrous things that the Lord has shown me or spoken to me about. Therefore, it won't have an entry every day. And it won't contain any words about the mundane dealings of the day.
The entry for today will be something that Laurie shared with me. In his first letter, the apostle John tells us this: "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."
Seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? In fact, as Laurie pointed out, it's a command--do not love the world.
It's a command.
Let's tread carefully here. Too often, our thoughts turn to legalistic prescriptions when we read such words. However, there is no way you can muster up in yourself an "anti-love-for-the-world" frame of mind. That's a good thing. If you did, you would be very proud of it. No, you must ask the Lord to give you a love for Him that will begin to edge out your love for this present world. This makes sense, doesn't it? What is the best way to make your marriage adultery proof? By dedicating yourself to never associate with a member of the opposite sex? No. The best way is to have a strong, intimate, caring, selfless love for your spouse. It is no different in our relationship with our God.
Ask Him for the love that you desperately need for Him. He will give you that love. Then you will begin to notice those things in the world that have a disproportinately large footprint in your heart--and you will want to remove them.
Do not love the world. If you do, the love of the Father is not in you. The answer for not loving the world is loving God more--with a love that He will gladly give you.
love
