Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. {1 John 2:15}
As a child of God who wants his or her heavenly Father’s approval, we want to do what will be pleasing before Him. We want to do what the Lord desires for us to do. We don’t insist on what we want, because we know that when we obey and do what He asks for us to do we have His blessing and security. God’s blessings and security are no small matter, especially when you have experienced the goodness of the Lord and the blessings of answered prayers. To many of us who love Him, it means everything. His blessings and His security are amazing! Having His approval and His friendship mean the world to us. We cannot live without Him.
The Lord has told us,
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” {Luke 9:23}
Having a true relationship with Jesus Christ is not a casual experience. It is real and it is alive. We love Him and we want to be with Him. That means we want to follow Him all the time. When we have determined this in our hearts – to follow Him all the way, then the world will not mean anything to us. We will shun its evil works of darkness because they are of the evil one, and it brings darkness into our souls. We cannot love God and love the world, because that would create a constant conflict in our hearts and in our minds. It will bring confusion. We either love God (and love Him all the way), or we turn away from Him and love the world. We cannot do both, love God and the world. One way or another, your affection to one will surpass the other. Since the Bible tells us that heaven and earth are going to pass away but His word will never pass away, (Matthew 24:35) it would be wiser for us to set our affections completely upon the Lord and not on this world. We will not win if we love this world. Sooner or later the world is going to bring disappointments and will break our hearts. Its pleasures are temporary. Sooner or later they’re all going to end. Sooner or later we will leave it behind and face the One who matters most in the end – Jesus Christ. The better choice of course is Jesus Christ – and to love Him with all of our hearts, soul, and mind.
But how do we shun the world and love God with all the pressures to be like everybody else? How do we resist the worldly activities of friends and family who we’ve known for ages and ages, and have been there for us when we’ve needed them? How can we listen to the voice of God and do what He says to do, and not give in to your desires for the carnal things of this world that entertain you and give you pleasure? How can we shun this world if your family doesn’t know the Lord, and you love them and don’t want to hurt them?
It’s not going to be easy and it’s a process. It may not happen over night. But you have to make a choice. Do you want the Lord or not? Do you want to be with Him when the time comes to leave this world behind, or be without Him forever? It’s up to you. Once you face this hard question in your heart then the process of shunning the world and loving God will become easier. You have to first answer the question in your heart: Do I want God more than this world or do I want the world more than Him? If you answer for God, then everything is going to work out for you. But if you still hesitate and are not sure, then the road before you will be very hard.
If you choose God, the Lord will be right there beside you to help you. He will give you more of His Holy Spirit if you ask Him to give it to you, so that you will have the power to follow Him. You might not be able to resist your friends and family right now. You might not be able to have the strength and the will to say no to the pressures they put upon you to do what they want. You may not be able to even resist the temptation to be like everybody else and do what they’re doing for pleasure and entertainment. But once you have said yes to God in your heart and you have chosen the Lord and want to be with Him more than anything in this life, then one of these days you will be where God wants you to be. You will be loving God and shunning the world. You will be doing His will. He will do the work and accomplish His perfect will in your life, because on our own we cannot do it. We need Him. He has the power, we don’t. But He will give it to us if we want Him. We just need to make up our minds what we want to happen and tell Him. Once we know what we want and we tell the Lord our desire, He will help us step-by-step to follow Him. He will lead us and guide us into His truth. He will give us the strength to say no to this world. He will give us the heart to stand up against the wicked desires of the enemy of our soul. He will help us to follow Him and leave this world behind.
But the key thing, and the most important thing in this process of following the Lord all the way is our communion with Him – our talks with Him. Without it, we will fail. We need to be talking to Him all the time. The psalmist tells us:
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. {Psalm 37:5}
That’s the most important thing in this process of following the Lord and shunning this world – our talks with Him. We cannot go through the day without this. We must make our talks with Him a habit or we will be consumed by this world. If we learn to commit everything to the Lord and tell the Lord everything we’re going through, and what we’re desiring in our hearts for Him to do for us, He will work everything out. He will give us the desire of our hearts so that we will be able to follow Him. When we’re spending our time with the One who has the power over the principalities of this world and are filled by Him, then nothing will be impossible for us because He will give us the power to overcome. He is going to help us to look to Him and not to ourselves. He is the source of our strength, we cannot do anything on our own. We need to spend time with Him. Jesus tells us in His word,
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. {John 15:5}
The Lord also tells us that if we abide in Him and His word is in our hearts, we will ask Him anything and it will be given to us:
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. {John 15:7}
The Bible tells us,
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. {Romans 8:28}
If we do the will of God and love Him and talk to Him, then He will help us to shun this world and follow Him all the way. There is nothing that the Lord will not help us with. We just need to talk to Him and abide in Him.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. {Romans 12:2}
Prayer
Father, I thank You that Your love for us is true and real. Your love is faithful until the end. You will help us to follow You in this life if we truly desire You more than this world. Help us then Father, to follow You all the way. Help us to love You and serve You and do Your will. Help us to shun the wicked works of darkness and follow You. I thank You Father that there is nothing You cannot help us with and understand. You know all things that we’re going through. You understand. You will help us with our family and our friends and our co-workers and everyone and everything we need help with in this life. If we learn to commit everything to You, and trust also in You, then You will help us. I pray for Your grace and Your will to be done in our lives everyday. Help us to follow You all the way. I ask all these things Father, in Your most wonderful and precious name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
