"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John 17:16 KJV)
"For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control." (Philippians 3:18-21 NLT)
Maybe I should rephrase the statement I said yesterday, to, 'Having loved this world, I spend way too much time thinking about the things of this world; therefore, I need to get a grip!' As it is, I probably do spend more time than I should thinking about taking care of life; so much so, that I feel that life is being strangled out of me, almost as if I have no more desire to remain here anymore.
Just being honest, because this life has way too many things to take care of, I can hardly take care of myself anymore. That said, I feel as though we all need to start focusing more on the Lord and the church, and less upon work and the things that are distracting us from reconciling the world back to God.
As I was typing the Scripture from Philippians, I couldn't help but think of myself as the example of Paul's choice of words, "enemies of the cross of Christ." Don't get me wrong, I seriously don't think I am like that; but I also know that I don't live a perfect life! The business I run, mostly runs me; I spend way more time than I should working to paying bills, then I spend with my wife!
And the part where he says, "Their god is their appetite," makes me think about how much time I spend thinking about my next meal; as I drive around towards the end of the day, thinking about what I want to eat, be it Chinese, Mexican, or whatever else I might be craving. I mostly eat alone, but when I can, I invite my in-laws, to mostly just have pleasant conversation.
"They are headed for destruction," is sometimes how I see myself, as the guy who winds up in heaven, still smoldering from being scorched by fire...
"But on the judgement day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames." (1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NLT)
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