Do you love the Father?

This is another one of those verses to chew on this morning:



1 John 2:15-17



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. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.



Look very hard at verse 15. We are told clearly not to love the things of this world. And if we do then the love of God is not in us. Wow. Stop and evaluate yourself this morning. Do you love God or the things of this world more? One great way to see the evidence is where do you spend most of your time? TV, fishing, shopping, ballgames, work, ect, ect! Or Praying, reading the Bible, serving others, raising your kids in the Lord, church, and doing what God's Word commands? Verse 16 explains the things of the world. These things we do to fulfill our selfish desires. They are not of God but of self. Think about how much time we spend on self and then on how much time we spend on things of the Father? This can be very painful but very helpful when evaluating ourselves. Then verse 17 reminds us time is passing away. And the lust of the things of this world is also passing away. But when we are in God's will the treasures of heaven will last for eternity. What an Awesome God we have!



So this morning can we honestly say we love the Father or do we need to admit we love the world more and need to make some changes????



Tom