Temporary or Timeless (1 John 2:15-17)

“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 all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress writes of two children – Passion and Patience. The former wanted everything now; the latter waited for the best to come. Needless to say, Passion grumbled and mumbled throughout her whole discontented life. Her passions were temporary and fleeting. Today, the apostle John writes of the same contrast between the temporary and the eternal, between rebellion and obedience. This distinction occurs fundamentally at the level of our love and the direction of our desires. For too long, we have envisioned man as “thinking things,” as “brains on a stick;” however, our heart is often in the driver’s seat. Consider the man on a diet, faced with a decision between celery sticks and ice cream. He often chooses the latter against what he knows to be best because he desires it more.

Now, John illustrates that those who don’t love God are filled with the desires of the world - the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. In fact, we find these things in the original temptation: “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” Since that moment, we swallow down forbidden fruit and follow after forbidden things. Jesus Himself faced the same temptation, yet the love of the world found no home in him. Jesus loved His Father. For the joy set before him, he endured all and entered into heavenly joy.

As Christians, we find ourselves lured by the very same temptations. Will the love of God lead us to tread the very same steps of Christ to that eternal city of endless light? Or will we grasp forever after the fleeting pleasure of earthly passion?