EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/26/2024 6:53 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Introduction to 1 John 2:15-17”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
1 John 2:15-17
Message of the verses: “15 Do not love the
world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the
Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also
its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
John MacArthur entitles this eighth chapter in his
commentary on 1 John “The Love God Hates,” and after reading these verses one
will be able to understand why he used that name for these verses.
In
my morning Spiritual Diary on the gospel of Matthew I came across something
interesting to me that I think fits very well in this section, I hope you will
too.
“In
his devotional book Quiet Talks with
World Winners, S. D. Gordon recounted the story of a group of amateur
climbers who planned to accent Mount Blanc in the French Alps. On the evening before the climb, the guides
started the basic requirement for success.
Because it was an exceedingly difficult climb, one could reach the top
by taking only the necessary equipment for climbing, leaving all unnecessary
accessories behind.
“One
athletic young man discounted the guides’ advice, thinking it could not
possibly apply to him. He showed up for
the climb with a blanket, a small case of wine, a camera, a set of notebooks,
and a pocketful of snacks. Although
warned again by the guides, the strong-willed young man nevertheless started
out ahead of the rest to prove his superior skill and endurance.
“But
as the other climbers proceeded up the mountainside, they began to notice
various articles left on the path.
First, they noticed the young’s man food and wine, a short while later
the notebooks and camera, and finally the blanket. The young man managed to reach the peak, but,
just as the guides had predicted, he did so only after discarding all his
unnecessary paraphernalia.
“Apply
that illustration to the church, Mr. Gordon comments that, unlike that young
climber, who eventually paid the price for success, many Christians, when they
discover they cannot reach the top with their loads, simply stop climbing and
settle down on the mountainside.”
My
thoughts that what happens to believers who do not make it to the top is that
they perhaps fall out of love for the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that He
wants all believers do accomplish in His name.
The believers who stop part way up the mountain, as illustrated in this
story, are the ones who fall in love with the world system, and therefore they
do not fulfill the things of the Lord as they walk with Him. My advice to myself and to believers who read
this is to continue to the top of the “mountain” in order to have rewards at
the Judgment seat of Christ.
Lord
willing I will begin to work on this introduction more in the next SD. Just focus on this story I have quoted and
allow the Spirit of God to do a work in your heart and I will try to do the
same thing.
10/26/2024 7:06 PM
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