Life Spark: Choose your terms. (John 15:18-25)
Have you ever signed up for something on line and had them ask you to read the “conditions” and agree to abide by them? The website won’t let you advance unless you agree to their terms.
Did you know God has terms? He has terms for living. We are studying life, by looking through the lenses of Jesus and John.
“If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.” (John 15:19, MSG)
How would you like to live on God’s terms? Do they appeal to you?
What are they? They’re not the world’s terms. Satan, who is called ‘the god of this world,’ convinced Adam and Eve to live on the world’s terms: ‘Every man for himself, me first.’ In Jesus wilderness temptation, the evil one tried to get Jesus to circumvent God’s terms for living. God’s terms can be condensed into one word: Love. To expand that a little: “Every man for the other, and all for God.”
In college I interviewed a wealthy, top-level executive of Tektronix, Inc. I asked him, “What makes free enterprise run, what is the fuel?” He smiled and said “Selfishness.” Is it love that makes the world go ‘round? Yes and no. Selfishness, not love motors the world system. But, love, not selfishness, made Jesus’ world go round.
Just before He left, Jesus said to those He loved, “Remain in me,” (John 15:1-8), “Remain in my love,” (9-17) and “Remain in the world.” (18-25) That third remain stuck in their throats a little. “He’s leaving. We’re staying. We’re staying in this selfish world.”
Jesus wants His disciples in the world, but He doesn’t want world-think in them. The boat is supposed to be in the water, but when the water gets in the boat, we have problems. The Christian is supposed to be in the world, but when …
Here is where eternal life starts, right here, right now. The first part of a Christian’s eternal life begins on this planet. Would you like to live the first part of your eternity on God’s terms? It’s challenging: Live an ‘others first’ life in a ‘me first’ world.
Life challenge: Look for at least one chance today to live on God’s ‘you first’ terms.