When the Bible speaks of ‘the world’ in a negative sense it is speaking of the world system; i.e. the values and priorities that drive people in the opposite direction to the will of God. The world system consists in each person seeking to live autonomously and independently of God. People work hard to amass the resources they need to give themselves a measure of control over their lives. In this, human beings are desperately trying to fill the void that is left by the absence of God. The problem with the endeavour of autonomy is that our claims eventually clash. We end up competing for power and resources. In this scenario the gain of one person, or group of people, is often at the expense of another person or group. And this is the world system we now have. The world broadcasts its message incessantly telling us who we need to be and what we need to have in order to feel secure, acceptable and successful. For Christians, it is vital that we recognise what is happening around us and that we intentionally choose to go in another direction. It is all too easy for us to find ourselves just being swept along in the ‘rat-race’ without reflecting on the direction of our lives. If you want to find God and walk with him, you must turn around and go in the other direction. You cannot walk with God and live by the values and priorities of the world because these values and priorities were designed for a lifestyle without God.
Commit yourself to walk with God today and value what he values.
Read James 4:4-6
