Beyond Me

1 John 2:15-17New Living Translation (NLT). Do Not Love This World

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Is this passage relevant to our daily lives or what?  Wow!  After reading it, my first thought is that this passage needs to be in regular rotation for me.  I don’t know about you, but living in this world, it seems we are bombarded relentlessly by all kinds of messages that attempt to influence how we spend our time and attention and the majority of those things have no eternal value. 

Off the top of my head, I can think of the new skin cream I need to get so I can avoid fine lines and wrinkles, the new diet I need to go on so I will be found attractive and acceptable, the money I need to make so I can achieve a certain social status and there is always the push and pressure for more.  More and more of what will at the end of my days mean absolutely nothing!

I can so easily long for the approval of others more than I think of what my Heavenly Father has to say on the subject.  I can work hard for applause instead of bringing my Father the honor He deserves.  I can strive and strive for acceptance when I could just rest in the truth that I am already completely loved and accepted by the One who matters most.

What are your thoughts as you read about where our focus should be? Is there anything you spend too much time and attention on that has no eternal value?  What might we not be paying attention to that we should because it’s important to the heart of our Father?  When life here is over, whenever that may be for you or I, what are we investing in today that will truly last beyond us? 

I don’t know about you, but I need brothers and sisters around me to help me remember this truth in a world that is constantly attempting to distract me from the eternal.  My prayer is that you and I would be people who make a difference in the lives of those around us and put a smile on the face of our Heavenly Father because we are investing the time and resources He’s given us on things that will outlast us.  Who’s with me?