"Enter by the narrow gate...For the gate is small and the way is narrow that
leads to life, and few are those who find it." Matthew 7:13-14

Following our thoughts of the last two weeks and thinking about how Christ
is being eliminated from Christmas (more so this year than any time I can
remember) and of the shopping mania that is going on, I came upon 1 John
2:15-17,
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world--the
craving of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has
and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and
its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Scripture warns us against worldliness:
Jesus speaking to His disciples,
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits
his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26
(Read the whole exchange verses 21-28)

"Set your mind (be intent on) the things above, not on the things that are
on earth." Colossians 3:2 (Margin note)

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It
teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." Titus 2:11-12

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is
hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God." James 4:4

Referring to 1 John 2:16 above,
Concerning the sinful man (the flesh):
"For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another..." Galatians 5:17

"For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life."
Galatians 6:8

Concerning the lust of the eyes:
It is a source of temptation:
We see the devastation it brought for all mankind in Genesis 3:6,
"When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she
took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and
he ate."

"So Achan answered...'when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantel from
Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in
weight, than I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed
in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.'" Joshua 7:21

It leads to impurity:
2 Samuel 11:2-4 tells of David's seeing Bathsheba, desiring her, inquiring
about her and even though he learned that she was married, verse 4 tells us,
"And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay
with her..."

Jesus tells us,
"But I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has
committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:28

Concerning pride, we see in Proverbs:
"When pride comes, then comes dishonor..." 11:2
"Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling." 16:18
"Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked, is sin." 21:4
"He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife..." 28:25

These are but a few examples of worldliness, but Believers are to walk in
unworldliness by the grace of God and power the Holy Spirit who leads and
guides. Let us seek to be the expression of Christ to all we meet especially
now.  To God be the glory! Amen