Look away from the world

1 John 2:15-16 (NKJV)

15 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. 16 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.

The apostle gives a warning to not love the world of things of the world. The world is corrupted by sin and our natural self is often drawn to the sin in the world. Our focus should be on God and His desires; for our stay on earth is but a moment compared to the eternity of a life in heaven.

Richard S. Halverson, the former U.S. Senate Chaplain, used to challenge people with the following image:

You're going to meet an old man [or woman] someday down the road—ten, thirty, fifty years from now—waiting there for you. You'll be catching up with him [or her]. What kind of old man are you going to meet? He may be a seasoned, soft, gracious fellow—a gentleman who has grown old gracefully, surrounded by hosts of friends, friends who call him blessed because of what his life has meant to them. Or he may be a bitter, disillusioned, dried-up old buzzard without a good word for anyone—soured, friendless, and alone.

That old man will be you. He'll be the composite of everything you do, say, and think—today and tomorrow. His mind will he see in a mold you have made by your beliefs. His heart will be turning out what you've been putting into it. Every little thought, every deed goes into this old man.

Every day in every way you are becoming more and more like yourself. Amazing but true. You're beginning to look more like yourself, think more like yourself, and talk more like yourself. You're becoming yourself more and more. Live only in terms of what you're getting out of life and the old man gets smaller drier harder crabbier more self-centered. Open your life to others, think in terms of what you can give, your contribution to life, and the old man grows larger, softer, kindlier, and greater.

[Daniel Henderson, The Deeper Life (Bethany House Publishers, 2014), pp 165-166]

What is in the past is there and has been left behind. It is unchangeable and permanent. However, the future is not fixed. As each day comes we can make it into something beautiful that creates in us a loving, gentle, kind and gracious person. Let us strip away our pride and give our hearts to The Lord that He would mold up and shape us into what He wants us to become. Look away from the world and look towards The Lord.