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.  1 John 2:15 ESV

You adulterous people!  Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  James 4:4 ESV

I realize I am telling my age here, but yesterday I heard the song, I Wouldn’t Have Missed It for the World, and it brought back many memories.  This song was written by Charles Quillen, Kyle Fleming, and Dennis Morgan.  It was recorded by Ronnie Milsap and released in October 1981.  It became one of the biggest hits in his recording career. This song speaks of a great love that was lost.  Some of the lyrics say, “I wouldn’t trade one memory, ’cause you mean too much to me.  Even though I lost you girl, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Are there things in your life that you wouldn’t miss for the world? As school draws to an end there are awards ceremonies and graduations.  There are weddings that you wouldn’t consider missing. There are life events that happen that we just consider too important to miss.

I normally listen to K-Love which is contemporary Christian music, but yesterday I was having a hard time picking up that station so I switched to my local classic country station and this song was playing.  It got me to thinking, as songs often do, about my relationship with Christ.  I realized that the world almost caused me to miss it. I almost missed it for the world.  I was almost conned by the devil and my flesh into thinking that I could stay in the world and do the things that the world does and God would be okay with it.

There was one huge glitch in that plan.  God was not okay with it.  Whatever I did would be fun for a little while but then calamity would strike.  I would be riding high one minute and sinking low the next.  It was only after I realized that the world was not my friend, that I knew I had to give it all over to God.  I had to develop a strong relationship of trust and obedience with Him.  I had to put Him first in my life.  I had to surrender all, which is another song, but we won’t go there right now.  I had to give every aspect of my life over to God.  I had to honor Him with every fiber of my being.

Now I want you to know that there are still areas where I struggle.  There are still times that God convicts me and I have to repent.  But I now live with a peace and joy that the world can’t explain, nor can it understand.  Yesterday we spoke of heavenly places.  Well, I now live in that heavenly place.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t have troubles and heartaches from time to time, but I have God there with me.  I have a fortress and a refuge in which to seek shelter (Psalm 91:1).  I am protected by the almighty God.

The devil is very crafty and cunning (Genesis 3:1).  He can make it seem as though the world is your best friend.  Trust me on this one, it is not.  I have been there, done that and got the t-shirt.  Now, you don’t have to take my word for it.  You are free to continue to flop around like a fish out of water and try to live in the world.  Let me know how that works out for you.  I already know how it worked out for me. But I now know that even when bad things happen, God will work it out for my good (Romans 8:28).

We were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).  We were made to be imitators of Christ (Ephesians 5:1).  So, I leave you with this thought.  Would you throw your clothes into the back seat of your car and turn the car on and close the door and expect them to be washed and/or dried?  Would you try to mow your lawn with your vacuum cleaner?  These things are not made for those purposes, right?  Well, we are not made to be sinners and spend eternity in hell.  When we are living that way here on earth, God tries to correct us.  Those “things” that are troubling you might just be your gentle nudge from God attempting to get you back on the right path, just sayin’.

I lived many years of my life trying to keep one foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world.  It didn’t work.  It’s not gonna work for you either.  I am so grateful that I didn’t miss the wonderful life that God had to offer me for the world. You see on August 22, 2010, I cried out to God.  I had made a huge mess of my life.  I begged Him to take my broken mess and fix it and He did.  On that day, I removed myself from the world.  I now live in that heavenly place and let me tell you, it’s awesome!  I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!!

Have a great day!