Dealing with those cravings

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (I John 2:15-16)

If we are the type that needs to have a 'measurement' of how well we are doing, this verse might just be the one. Do not love this world nor the things it offers - that seems pretty plain, but does that mean we cannot drive a nice car, have a home that is paid off, or go on a cruise? No, it just means we don't put those things ahead of our relationship with Jesus. Physical pleasure was created by God, as were all our 'human' emotions, physical attributes, and minds. The intent of the passage is our heart attitude toward the things of this world and what we can accomplish in our own talent or strength.

Pride is at the root of most of our sins, is it not? We didn't like the way something was done, so we were determined to do it 'better'. We saw something another possessed, and not wanting to be outdone, we got something 'one better'. We wanted that promotion at work so much that we worked to undermine everything the other candidate did in order to make our work stand out as 'better' or 'best'. Pride in our achievements and possessions will eventually pull us away from a nearness to Jesus. This is why he warns us to not crave those things - not put them before him.

There is so much more that we can enjoy when we remain faithful within our relationship with Jesus. When we put him first in all we do, the 'things' don't seem to matter as much anymore. Why is that? The 'space' we were trying to fill within ourselves belongs to him. Trying to fill it with anything we can achieve in our own power or by our own talents will always fall short of what he brings when he occupies that space. Pride gets us into all kinds of awkward and unnecessary spots, but keeping our eyes on Jesus helps us avoid those hazards.

Do not love - do not crave - what do both of these have in common? We want to be 'filled'. What Jesus is saying is that no other 'filling' actually 'satisfies' us like being totally in love with Jesus, putting him first in our lives, and allowing all the other 'cravings' to become less important in the light of the fulfillment he brings as we draw closer and closer to him. Just sayin!