Exodus 20:17 “You
shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s
wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey,
nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
The second way that “the
world” tempts Christians is by “the lust of the eyes”. The lust of the eyes is
the desire to possess those things which have visual appeal to them. This lust
is spoken against by God in the Ten Commandments: “Thou shall not covet.” To covet in a bad sense, is to desire inordinately or to desire that which it
is unlawful to obtain or possess. I once had a materialistic Co-worker who told
me that his standard operating procedure was: “I see it, I want it, I get it.” His
vain, inordinate and unbridled desires for possessions, power, position, pomp,
prosperity and people was based upon the lust of his eyes.
We are surrounded by a
material world and manipulative advertisements to draw us to buy in this
Consumer-driven society. Social Media platforms were intentionally designed to
trigger the human emotion of envy (to feel uneasiness, mortification or
discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness
enjoyed by another; to repine at another's prosperity; to fret or grieve one's
self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that
account), so that people will long for and stay engaged in their product and
profits. This is having an immensely negative affect on society today. Don’t
fall for the distractions of life and take your eyes off the Lord who blesses.
Where is true satisfaction
in life found? Galatians 5:16-25 tells us,“ But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there
is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk
in the Spirit.” Who does not desire these internal virtues from the Lord? Remember
that fame, fortune and the finer things in life all fade quickly, but that
which belongs to the Lord Christ lasts forever. We need to fix our eyes upon
Jesus, so that we can have which is everlasting.
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit
before a fall.”
The third way that “the
world” tempts Christians is by “the pride of Life”. This is the sin of
self-centeredness, boasting to impress and influence, egocentric caring about what you think
over what God thinks, believing that it’s all about me. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says,
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will
come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away!” We are the “Selfie Generation” now. What
do you post on social media? Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us, Thus says the Lord: “Let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory
in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me,
that I am the Lord, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
Proverbs 11:2 “When
pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”
These three ways, Satan
tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden and Jesus in the Wilderness, but where Eve
failed and took the bait, Jesus did not and succeeded. How? He resisted the
devil and quote God’s Word, which He knew and lived our daily. We are to live “in
the world”, but not be “of the world”, so what are we supposed to do in that?
Pastor Obie gives us direction for that question in the next post in "Not of This World".
In Christ, Brian
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