If we could open the door and see what’s really wrong with the world and particularly with America, what would it be? We could easily say its lawlessness or the lack of love and acceptance that’s created numerous divisions, which continue to splinter to even smaller groups. Or we could take a bolder approach and say its humanity’s rejection of their Savior, Jesus Christ, that’s causing the problem. All this is true but let me suggest that we use a scalpel instead of a sword to look at an even deeper truth that has adversely affected every single person upon the planet since the fall. This is something that the entire world is mostly blind to, unless they look very carefully at the Law of God. This transgression, that we will speak about shortly, is so powerfully sinister that it affects everyone from the cradle to the grave driving most right into the waiting hands of Satan to be controlled as his pawns. This transgression has taken a tremendous hold upon the Christian community where most don’t even see it as a real trespass. In our day this has caused the blameless Bride of Christ to look more like a blushing harlot. This will be a time of great embarrassment for many! I take no great pleasure in writing this article, but I feel compelled to follow the leading of Jesus Christ through the indwelling Spirit.

So, what is this trespass or transgression? Let’s unpack its meaning carefully so we don’t gloss over its diabolical hold upon humanity. The Bible says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (I John 2:16). To see the truth of this sacred Scripture is like a bolt of lightning to the soul. “All that is in the world” is not of the Father! So, what’s in the world that commandeers our affections and inflames our desires? The simple answer is everything! These desires of the flesh run very powerfully throughout all of humanity that drives many into a life of indebtedness or lawlessness to satisfy their many wants and cravings. These desires start with our very first cries as an infant for our warm milk or to be cuddled by our parents and then it proceeds throughout all of life always eager to fulfill our every desire. Whatever we see and desire online or in the store soon becomes an obsession that must be obtained at any cost. These powerful desires or longings can cloud our judgment, control our behavior, and even lead to strong personality changes. In time, our successes in the acquisition of all we desire can lead to displays of egotism and inflated pride; the pride of life.

This lust (or strong desires) of the flesh that’s driving and controlling all of humanity may be tempered with self-discipline or a religious quest but will never be completely solved without the help of our Creator, which we will address later. To fully understand the power of this lust we must now turn our attention to the lust of the eyes. The eyes give us the perception of what we want. Is it the right color or is it the right shape; does it fascinate us, is it pleasing to our eyes or will it satisfy our innermost longings? This lust of the eyes has transformed an entire culture to look thinner, to be properly manicured, to dress more revealing, and to be wonderfully appealing to the point of enticement. Both Social Media and the News Media capitalize on displaying these enticements to keep you scrolling and desiring more of what they have to offer or what they think you desire. We all know that the big screen has been doing this for many years giving the world exactly what they want. It is no wonder that most are working on their second or third marriage while many young people fear the prospects of marriage altogether. It has tragically affected our entire society ignoring the boundaries set up by God in His beautiful commandments.

The boundaries were established thousands of years ago when God delivered His beautiful commandments to His chosen people to be a light to the world. The Bible says, “Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor’s” (Deuteronomy 5:21). In those days, they did not have large shopping malls, television advertisements, social media, and online purchasing, so most coveting was directed primarily at the neighbor’s belongings. If the Law was written today it would need to encompass all of society that has coveted everything under the sun. Furthermore, coveting has so completely entered the psyche of mankind that they have always embraced some form of capitalism to fulfill their greatest desires of wealth and prosperity, even if it must be done on the backs of the poor. These desires reside deep in the heart of man taking his every thought captive. He may very well whitewash it with his religion of choice, but he is still driven to acquire all that the world has to offer. Many are known to arise early in the morning to immediately start planning and scheming on how they can have more of the world’s goods. Their entire lives from morning till night is consumed with having more things and how to enjoy the many pleasures in the world. They dream endlessly about getting rich, receiving an inheritance, or even winning a lawsuit.

In our society the poor can also demonstrate the “pride of life” even if it’s just owning one set of nice or fancy-looking clothes or only one well-polished automobile to make his splash upon others who happily cheer him on, causing him to boast even louder. Where is God in all this lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life? He is nowhere to be found unless one truly repents. Remember, this lust of the flesh is not of the Father. This should be a wakeup call, especially for those who can never seem to get enough of the world’s goods. Storage units or rental space have been among the hottest businesses for some time now, as most people are running out of space in their homes to keep all their prized possessions, collected as a result of their unfettered lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes. There is absolutely no end to this powerful lust to have more and more. This lust of the eyes for others have even followed the bride or groom right up to their actual wedding ceremony casting their lustful eyes upon others in the wedding party. Yet, this is the carnal sin that no one is talking about. It’s time to have that conversation before it’s too late, before Christ returns for His blameless Bride and only finds a blushing harlot. It’s past time to wake up and repent!

Perhaps one thing fallen humanity can do to fight this obsession of owning everything their eyes lust after is to learn how to give away what they have to the poor and being satisfied with what they have been given by the hand of God; to be content with what they have. The Bible says, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). As we put off the old life and are transformed in Christ, by the indwelling Spirit it will remove our fleshly desires to obtain everything we see. In time we will learn how to be content with what we have and even give away our excess to the poor amongst us. Believe me, this will take a lot of hard work on our part listening to and obeying the indwelling Spirit. We have all grown up in a society and have become so accustomed to having whatever our hearts desire, it will be most difficult to change this mindset. Thanks be to God that in time we will no longer need to fight this old enemy.  The Bible says, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:17). All glory to God, for we will no longer be referred to as the arrogant gatherers blindly headed for the fiery pits of hell, but we will be set free through repentance and the grace of God.

The Bible says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15)

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