I’m currently in a series about loving God. At this point I’ve been talking about having a single heart toward the Lord. So far I’ve dealt with seeking pleasure and pursuing money before God. Today I want to talk about seeking the things of the world.

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 cravings 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.

I John 2:15-16 NIV

The simple truth is that I must love God more than the world. This is probably the toughest of the three distractions to fight against.

That’s because the view of the world is all around us. Unless you live isolated in the woods somewhere, you can’t get away from its call. That’s what makes it so difficult. It’s never out of our sight.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

James 4:4 NIV

James clearly tells us that if you become a friend of world, then you’re acting as an enemy of God. The verse from 1 John tells us that this love of the world has three prongs.

The first is the cravings of sinful man. That’s literally the desires of our flesh. Our flesh has us wanting every new thing that comes out.

The unfortunate thing about this is that in our modern society, new things become obsolete in 6 months. This means that you can spend all your time looking at all the new technology. But you’ll never be satisfied because something better will be just around the corner.

Then there’s the lust of the eyes. That’s when you want to see everything that everyone is doing. We even have terms like FOMO that were unheard of 50 years ago.

Do you find yourself constantly scrolling through Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Reddit. Do I really care that you just bought a bar of soap at Target? And no, that burrito doesn’t look any different than the one I get at my local restaurant.

The world offers so many things that I can spend my time “binge watching” (another term never heard in the past). There are TV shows, movies, sports, news, and weather enough to fill up all of my free time.

Finally there’s the boasting about what we have and do. That’s literally talking about pride. I want the world to acknowledge me. I can dance, sing, or cook. On the other hand, I can make myself look like a viral idiot.

Your flesh says, “I want the world to see that I’m special.” The fact is that God already knows you’re special. God wants to show you some incredible things if you’ll just spend some time with Him.

When it comes to your flesh, well…

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14 NIV

This has got to be one of our faith statements.

“In Christ Jesus I have been crucified to the world, and the world has been crucified to me.”

Never allow the pursuit of the world come before your relationship with God.

Question: How much time do you spend online with the world versus time with God?

© 2026 Nick Zaccardi