“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” John 17:11 NIV
What is the world telling you today that is changing the way that you are living your life?
Take some time with this question. What are the priorities on your list today? What is the goal that you are chasing or the dream that you are dreaming? What is the thing that can bring about the most discontentment when it isn’t quite “right”?
Now back up, and look again.
What is the basis of that thing? What is the root of your motivation in that thing or for that thing?
These past two weeks have been full of travel for me and along my journeys, I couldn’t help but notice the billboards lining our highways, the posters stuck to every open wall space, and the bulletins hanging in the bathroom stalls. Whether we consciously recognize it or not, we are constantly being advertised to by the world, and unfortunately, it doesn’t end with the billboards, posters, and bulletins. It’s laced into our televisions, our radios, and most other things that surround us in our day to day…and it often seeps into our conversations or at least the conversation happening at the next table over.
So brothers and sisters, how are we to walk in this world, surrounded by advertisement of the world, yet not conform to the world?
“Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
How are we to renew our minds or to set our minds on things above when they seem to constantly be filling with the things of this world?
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that we are not just to hide in isolation for the rest of our lives, but that we are to be visible to the world, like a city on a hill or a lamp on a stand.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
Three thoughts have vividly come to my mind as I have pondered these very questions, and my hope is that they will serve as encouragement to you today and may lead you into further study as that I know it is not an all-inclusive answer.
The first comes from John 13. Jesus was displaying an example of His servanthood through the washing of His disciples’ feet when He got to Peter and the following exchange of remarks occurred.
Peter: “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus: “You do not realize what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”
Peter: “No, you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Peter: “Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus: “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” (John 13:6-10)
When we accept Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the family of God. We too, become clean through Christ, just as Peter was told that he was clean. However, also like Peter, we need Jesus to clean our feet – the part of us that is in contact with the world. Notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter to stop walking around or to stop his trek in the world, but simply that his feet did need to be cleaned.
Let us find encouragement in this to come before the Lord and ask Him to purify us; to cleanse us of the things of this world.
What then? Immersion in the Word of God. When we ask God to cleanse us and our minds from the things of the world, we need to fill that empty space with the words of God and the things of God, so that those spaces are not readily available to be consumed by the next piece of the world that we encounter.
Not only are the things of God simply to occupy that space, but let’s think back to that very first question. What is the world telling you today that is changing the way that you are living your life? What does God say about that thing…?
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:1-2
Let us be like a tree planted by streams of water.
Last, but certainly not least, prayer. Throughout these past few months, God has consistently reminded me of the power of prayer and how beautiful an opportunity we have to be in communication with Him 24/7.
In Ephesians 6, we can read about the whole armor of God, including the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet prepared with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Yet even after all of that is put on and in place, we are then told in verse 18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”
Let us surrender all things in prayer.
Brothers and sisters, though we are in this world, we are not to be of this world. We may be surrounded by billboards, posters, bulletins and whatever else, but we are given access to many tools that will keep us protected in Christ and keep us focused on Christ. It us up to us to utilize what we have been given.
So for the last time, what is the world telling you today that is changing the way that you are living your life?
I want to invite you to take it before the Lord, ask Him to purify the thought or the thing by filtering it through His lens, seek what He says about it in His word, and surrender it to Him in prayer.
Let the motive of our goals and dreams be Christ and not just the billboard on the side of the road.
