Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15‭-‬17

There are two options when it comes to living for the believer, either follow Jesus or don’t. John states in no uncertain terms the world will lead you astray from God’s best for you. Jesus also on multiple occasions in the gospels states it’s going to be difficult following Him, but the benefits are out of this world.

The Sermon on the Mount

In the greatest sermon ever preached, the sermon on the mount, Jesus said there are two gates. One is wide and leads to destruction and a lot of people enter it. The other is narrow and it leads to life and very few actually find it (Matt. 7: 14-14). The intent of our scripture today is the fleshing out of Jesus’ words: follow the the ways of the world and it will lead to destruction or follow the will of the Father to live forever with Him.

Jesus finishes the sermon on the mount with a very picturesque story that illustrates the same effect of following the world or following Him. It is the story of building your house (life) on the sand or building on the rock. There are similarities between the two foundations. Storms will always be there. It will wear a person down trying to traverse through one storm only to find another one waiting on the horizon. The infamous quote (unknown origin) goes something like this, “You’re either going into a storm or in the middle of a storm or coming out of a storm.” Storms will always be there.

However, there are also differences between the two foundations. First and most notable is how a person will build. The distinction should be evident: will a person listen to Jesus and act on His words or ignore anything Jesus says and do whatever they want? Then, of course, we see the second difference, a person will be considered either wise or foolish depending on how they responded to Jesus words. And lastly and definitely not the least, the result of building a house (life) is either destruction or withstanding the storms. Also, see how Jesus describes the fall of the foolish builder. Not only did the house fall, it was a great fall.

The Story of Your Eternity

Now, looking at today’s verse, the same result is evident. Going your own way or the way of the world is a foolish endeavor because it will always end in destruction. And not just any destruction, it will be a great destruction. Many people believe they’ll be able to build their life by following their own set of principles to make it through this life with few scars. Others will willfully reject God’s greatest gift and believe everything will be just find at the end of their lives. Here’s where those people are wrong. While life may look and feel great in the here and now, eternity will tell a different story. The choice a person makes now in either following Christ or not following Him ultimately determines their future, destruction or life.

For the person who builds their life on the Rock of Jesus Christ, there is a completely different outcome. Life eternal in heaven with God. There’s a cautionary warning that needs to be given: building a life following Jesus’ words cannot be done in your own strength. A supernatural act of God in a person’s life changes everything. Ephesians 2:4-7 explains the supernatural act God has done for us:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4‭-7

Live Like You’re Alive

He made us ALIVE! We were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians. 2:1). We are given the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Ephesians. 2:8) and we should live like we are alive (Ephesians. 2:10).

As a believer, our focus should be on eternity not on anything this world offers. All the “things” of the world will amount to nothing when this life comes to an end. What does matter in God’s eyes is if we have lived a life for His glory and not our own. Our lives do not end at our death, they are only beginning.