False teeth. False eyelashes. False...you get the idea. What do they all have in common? The most simple answer is that they aren't real. What about false advertising? Why do we get so riled up when we watch commercials that promise something, you know couldn't possibly be true? There are laws against that sort of thing, right? How do they get away with it? They get away with it because there is just enough truth in what they are offering, that it isn't really false. It isn't really true either.
Nobody likes to be lied to or deceived. We would like to believe that we wouldn't fall for that sort of thing in the first place, right? But, don't we deceive ourselves every day? The things that we turn to, coffee, snacks,energy drinks, cigarettes, alcohol, new clothes, new car, are all intended to give us something we think we need. But, are they for real? Do they actually meet a need?
We are told not to love the things of this world or the things in this world, "For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world (I John 2:15-16)." In other words, they aren't real. It is just false advertising.
The problem with the things of this world is they sometimes take a place that is intended for God to occupy, a place in your heart that is meant for Him and Him alone. We become attached to these things and rely on them for something that can only come from the Father. As in most relationships, if we allow something else to take away our attention, our energies, our affections, then our relationship will suffer. God wants our love. He wants to be first in our lives. For real. In order for that to take place, we may have to let go of our other attachments, the things of this world that we love, to create space in our hearts for this to occur.
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other; or, he will be devoted to the one and despise the other (Matt. 6:24)." God's love is the real thing.
Godspeed, Phil
Nobody likes to be lied to or deceived. We would like to believe that we wouldn't fall for that sort of thing in the first place, right? But, don't we deceive ourselves every day? The things that we turn to, coffee, snacks,energy drinks, cigarettes, alcohol, new clothes, new car, are all intended to give us something we think we need. But, are they for real? Do they actually meet a need?
We are told not to love the things of this world or the things in this world, "For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world (I John 2:15-16)." In other words, they aren't real. It is just false advertising.
The problem with the things of this world is they sometimes take a place that is intended for God to occupy, a place in your heart that is meant for Him and Him alone. We become attached to these things and rely on them for something that can only come from the Father. As in most relationships, if we allow something else to take away our attention, our energies, our affections, then our relationship will suffer. God wants our love. He wants to be first in our lives. For real. In order for that to take place, we may have to let go of our other attachments, the things of this world that we love, to create space in our hearts for this to occur.
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other; or, he will be devoted to the one and despise the other (Matt. 6:24)." God's love is the real thing.
Godspeed, Phil
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