In The World But Not Of It

Being in the world but not of it is like paddling a canoe on the Mississippi River.  The river is huge, the current is strong, and the water is toxic.  Snakes live there.  If you want to get where you’re going, you need to keep your boat in the water, and you need to keep the water out of your boat. Getting too much water in your boat will sink any boat I know of.

Jesus prayed,  “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from  the evil one.” (John 17:19 NASB). If God took us out of the world, we wouldn’t be able to share the Gospel with the world.  But “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.” (1 John 2:15 NASB). We need to see the world’s polluted water for what it is. Is your boat taking on too much muddy water?  Paul says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may  prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NASB).

Margot Armer