BUSY. Ever stop and think how much that word impacts everyday life? Society keeps busy. We keep busy. We keep our minds busy. We keep busy with future thoughts. How often do you think, I sure can’t wait for tomorrow. This weekend is going to be great. I am excited about my vacation next month, hope it gets here quickly. Winter is lasting forever, sure hope Spring hurries up. I am due a raise, hopefully by next year. Sure can’t wait to retire. On the surface, these are all simple thoughts that we all have at some point. However, it’s but another example of how worldly thought consumes us. Everyday is spent looking forward more and more. Why are we trying to speed things up? Once we get there, is it what we hoped, or do we move on and long for the next future event?
“And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever” (1 John 2:17). The lusts of the world are passing away. Think how quickly we try to speed our lives up, to reach that next goal, next event, next lust. Does it ever bring true gratification, true happiness, true relief? Maybe temporarily. But as the world is passing away, so too are worldly lusts. Does longing for tomorrow, the weekend, vacation, a raise, better weather, in anyway enhance the kingdom of God? If we consume ourselves with tomorrow, or our desires, how can we serve God’s will in the present? Jesus said, “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
“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. For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions-is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16). Yes, God created the world. We are to witness that creation and give Him glory. Do we give any glory to God for his creation by hoping that it speeds up in order to meet our desires? What value do we place on worldly desires and possessions? What are we willing to give up for God’s will? God created the world so that we may glorify Him, not have its possessions become idols. In Jeremiah 44, God speaks of His detest of idolatry. The love of anything more than God is idolatry. If we are spending more time on our desires, what we want, our plans for the future, our worldly possessions, instead of God’s will, we are idolatrous.
“Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions” (Mark 10:21-22). What value do we place on our possessions? Our time? Our plans? Our desires? If we longed for a vacation for months, would we cancel to serve God’s will? If we waited months for Spring, would we travel to Alaska to serve God’s will? If we waited decades to retire, would we keep working to serve God’s will?
These may sound extreme or odd, but only when we place our worldly desires above God’s plan and will. Before Jesus went to the cross, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He did not place His desires before God the Father. Jesus knew the future and what was to come. Jesus was not longing for tomorrow, longing for better conditions in life, thinking about the next desire. No, Jesus was serving God the Father in the present. Jesus said, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt 26:39). Jesus willingly gave His life for God the Father’s plan and will. “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1 Peter 3:17).
You may say, Jesus knew the future and what He had to do. If you love “the world with its lust” (1 John 2:17), it is only passing away. That is the future. If you place your will and desires above God’s, a world passing away faster and faster is all you will experience. “But the one who does the will of God remains forever” (1 John 2:17). Serving God’s will through spreading His Word, loving your neighbor, loving God with all your mind, heart and soul. That future is one that will live on forever in eternity. If we are constantly looking to tomorrow, we may miss God’s plan in the present. We may have placed our will above God’s will. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Is your treasure found in God’s will, or the will of the world with its lusts?
Jason Pauley
