March 25, 2024

“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)

“You are never not loving. It’s in the very fiber of your being. It’s the way God carefully constructed you. Why did he hardwire you to love? Why is this such an essential part of who you are? God created you with this capacity so that you would have what you need to live in a deeply loving, heart-controlling, motivation-producing, worship-initiating, joy-stimulating relationship with him. Your capacity to love was created for him.” (“New Morning Mercies”, March 28; Paul David Tripp)

What is it you love most? What food do you love most? What television show do you love most? We spend so much energy running from thing to thing, hoping we will soon find something else that we love. We’re all spiritually promiscuous, running from one thing we love to another thing we love – and soon find ourselves forgetting to love the one thing that matters most — God. We’re all spiritual adulterers, giving away our love in prodigal ways.

But the one thing G-d does not want us to completely fall in love with is our time on this earth. We are called to be in the world, but not of the world. We are to love the people and the planet, but not love them so much we forget about our love for G-d. Our capacity to love was created for the creator, not the creation only.

Pastor Dave