“Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father.” 1 John 2:15 (GNT).
Do not love the world
Satan wants to separate us from God. He does this by getting us to love the world. He is called the god of this world. He tries to blind our minds with the things of this world, to stop us from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4.)
Care for this world can even look good and right, and we can come up with many good reasons to explain our need for it. Satan is an expert at explaining how necessary this or that is, and how much we really need it. In this way, our thoughts and time are kept busy, and God becomes further and further away. This is how many who once served God with their whole heart have fallen away.
We read about the days of Noah and the days of Lot. The people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built, married and gave in marriage. This world had taken them, and there was no love for God. This is how it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. (Luke 17:26-30.)
This shows us that the love of the world is a spirit power that takes control of people. It is a satanic spirit that drives people away from God in a “nice” way. We must fight against this spirit power with all our strength, as if fighting for our lives. Those who are controlled by this spirit power will not be along when Jesus comes to fetch His Bride. (1 Thessalonians 4:17.)
Listen carefully, you who have become lukewarm and have begun to fall away. You didn’t plan to leave God and become lukewarm, but the cares of this life and an interest in this world have brought you to this point. Perhaps you wanted to earn more money so you would have more to give to God’s cause, but then you had less time for prayer, less time to seek the things of God! This is how the god of this world has deceived many and separated them from God.
Seek those things which are above
“If then you have a new life with Christ, give your attention to the things of heaven … not on the things of earth.” Colossians 3:1-2 (BBE). You cannot unite these two things. You cannot serve God and money. When you begin to seek both, that is when you begin to fall away. This is what it means to be lukewarm and half-hearted, and Jesus will spit such people out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16.)
The god of this world has power over those who are lukewarm because they have the form of being godly, but reject its power. (2 Timothy 3:5.) Paul tells us to turn away from them. The power of being godly is revealed when we no longer listen to “the god of this world” and have been set free from earthly things.
Those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ desire earthly things. Their end is destruction. This shows us that our life is at risk. Each one knows in his heart if he loves this world or the things of the world. It is important to be honest before God’s face so you are not trapped by the spirit of this world, because we are citizens of heaven. (Philippians 3:18-20.)
Loving God is the same as not loving the world. Loving God means to seek the things of God and not the things of the earth. Then we shall meet Jesus in the clouds, when He comes back from heaven to fetch us, and we shall always be together with Him.