“Oh no, she’s awake!”

When my heart was set on stuff, on having bigger, better, more, it had an unquenchable appetite. Then I began to learn that the excitement of acquiring a new anything, or the thrill of achievement lasts, at the most, eighteen months — before it is replaced by the desire for more. 

This week my hubby picked up a newspaper with a glossy promotional magazine inside for an area in the Rocky Mountains that has two beautiful golf courses and many luxury homes. Of the several listed in the magazine, one was given 5-6 pages of colored photos and much hype. Very nice. 

These days while on meds that make me sleepy, my physical self would like at least a maid (or a houseboy, as I tease my hubby). Thoughts of having someone scrub the bathrooms and cook meals run more easily through my head than they did when I could do it all myself. Oh to be pampered.

Yesterday I picked up an art quilt magazine. It didn’t take long before I was comparing my efforts with those of the quilts that graced its pages. What would it be like to be recognized, to become a famous quilter, or a famous anything? Could I see myself in the limelight?

Today is one of those big birthdays, the kind with a zero in it, and at this stage of life, I know that I will not be moving to the Rockies, hiring household help, or becoming anything more than I already am. However, the reason I can dismiss even tempting thoughts is not the fact of my age, financial circumstances, or any “too late” or “too little” excuses. Those ambitions are nothing because God gives a far better reason for being content with what I have.

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)

In these verses, the “world” is not the physical earth or it inhabitants. Instead, it refers to a system of thinking that resides in sinful human nature. It is the desire to satisfy the desires of the flesh, to possess or have power over all that can be seen, and to build one’s ego, whatever it takes. This is worldliness, an attitude of the heart.

Of course this “world” is passing away. At my age, I know how fleeting any satisfaction is and how quickly the flesh wants more. But that is not the biggest reason for abandoning worldly thinking. Instead, I’m motivated by wanting the love of God in me and having Him rule my life. Doing His will is far more important than worldly gain.

Maybe after “too many birthdays” as my father used to say, it is easier to choose eternal values, but that is not the main motivation. Nor am I motivated by the fact that worldly pleasures do not last. Instead, not loving the world is the way that Jesus thinks, and Jesus lives in my heart. Thinking His thoughts is important to living my faith. Interestingly, Jesus did love the world, but not the same world that the above verses describe.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

The “world” that God loved is the planet’s population. He did not sacrifice His Son so we could satisfy our fleshy desires and our pride. He gave us His only Son that we could have eternal life — a life far beyond anything this life could offer, including million dollar homes, servants, and lofty achievements. 

In this, there is a challenge for me. I’m to not love the world, but like Jesus, I need to love the world. Today’s devotional reading describes the difference. It says that I must love it with the love of God who gave His Son to die for it, with the love of Jesus who shed His blood for it. I’m to love it like the angels who rejoice when one sinner is saved and love it so I do it good and not harm. I’m to give my tears to its sufferings, my pity to its sorrows, my wealth to its needs, my prayers to its miseries. When God burdens me with its darkness and struggles, I’m to give my powers (which are really His powers) and my hours of labor. 

This reading goes on to say that I cannot live without affecting the world —or being affected by it. I will either make the world a better place, or it will make me a worse person. If I live like this, then I will be like a recent email that ended something like this, “Live your life in such a way that when you get up in the morning, the devil says, ‘Oh no, she’s awake!’”

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Lord, this world is passing away, just as my time here seems to be flying by. May Your grace and the power of the Holy Spirit enable me to live above worldly thinking, looking beyond it to the world to come, but also loving it so when I leave it, it will be a better place than had I not been here.