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James 4:4
4 Ye adulterers [moichos] and [kai] adulteresses [moichalis], know ye [eido] not [ou] that [hoti] the friendship [philia] of the world [kosmos] is [esti] enmity [echthra] with God [theos]? whosoever [hos] [an] therefore [oun] will be [einai] [boulomai] a friend [philos] of the world [kosmos] is [kathistemi] the enemy [echthros] of God [theos]. KJV-Interlinear
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. NASB
We all have our one true love in our life. We all have our one true companion in life. And that one, is Bible doctrine. And through doctrine, which is designed to function within the spiritual sphere of life, we have a relationship with God, through Christ.
By being indifferent, by being disinterested, by pursuing anything other than our spiritual life, we are in effect committing adultery against our spiritual existence.
We are allowing the world to entice us, while we cheat on that which God has designed specifically and exclusively for each one of us.
So we cheat on our one true love, our one true and perfect love, our one and true and perfect companion. In salvation we were not only born again into a new and supernatural life, we were also married, as it were, to Christ. That is the perfect marriage made in heaven, which is intended to have phenomenal blessings for us.
In a perfect world, a man, a rich man, marries a woman, a beautiful woman. And, they live happily ever after, with him taking care of and pampering his wife. She provides the softness and beauty and pleasures for him and he provides the financial means for enjoying life, free from problems.
Of course this is not a perfect world and marriage generally offers more problems than it solves.
The two who are married, begin to look elsewhere and their troubles escalate exponentially, until there is a divorce.
In the spiritual life, humanity looks elsewhere toward the carnal world and lives his or her life outside of the spiritual realm. They cheat on God and embrace the world. They prostitute themselves in exchange for the cheap thrills that the world has to offer. And everything the world offers is by definition, cheap and worthless.
And in just two more verses, we will have a phenomenal contrast between these cheap thrills, and the awesome rewards that God has to offer.
But for now we learn, or we should learn, that anything of this world, is in direct opposition toward God. Anything in this world, which acts as a distraction, taking you away from a properly functioning spiritual life, is evil.
You are going to save the planet? You are going to save the world? You are going to save energy and wood, and fish and tender little animals that no one has ever heard of? You are going to define life as you see it to be? You are going to build up a life for yourself and not come to the aid of others under tyrants in the world?
You are trying to define your version of history?
And yet, one day, Christ is going to destroy it all. God did not place us here to make this world an eternally better place. He placed us here to be - 'perfect.' And our perfection requires a transformation of the mind, not the environment.
You can line up on Gods side and pursue your spiritual life, and everything else in this world will take care of itself.
Or, you can line up on the side of preserving the planet, forming an alliance with nature, reasoning with criminals and tyrants and religious fanatics, using only one square of toilet paper a day, taxing the rich, and otherwise pursuing your utopia, and become Gods enemy.
Wanted to throw the rich comment in there just to see if anyone will get angry, perhaps forgetting the study regarding Gods reservoirs of resources concept. Or perhaps get angry at anything stated here. Didn't the Pharisees get angry with Jesus when He stated truths?
And that is exactly what people of the world do, when they hear truth. They become intolerant and angry.
Which part do you play in life?
