Tasted

It's so tempting to crave the things the world enjoys. They sparkle, shimmer, and appear very inviting to the unguarded eyes. Well, anything covered with glittering decors can quickly gain admiration.

These corruptible things, from the beginning, have always been presented as appealing to human desires (Matthew 4:8-9). Short-lived satisfaction it advertises creates an impulse to purchase unrestrained pleasures. That's how Adam and Eve got charmed by the thought of eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3).

With that one bite, the human appetite became accustomed to the spices of the world (Numbers 11:5). And while the majority are indulging in the taste of its shallow happiness, the pull of this addictive flavor of the world wrapped up in flashy packaging is becoming harder to resist.

So why would anyone choose to taste death? (Hebrews 2:9)

When bombarded with all kinds of enticement and temptations to live like the sinful world, wouldn't it be much easier to give in and enjoy the party life? Wouldn't it be more logical to own all the luxuries of this world when given the power to do so? So why? Why would Jesus choose the taste of death instead?

Was it all because of love? But it wasn't just love. It was God's love. 

God's love for sinners was beyond measure that Jesus willingly emptied himself and walked on the bloody road to the hill of His execution. The eternal Son of God, being submissive in His office as the Lamb sacrifice, chose to die on the cross. Christ voluntarily suffered the punishment for sin, our sin. He had to taste death so we could have life everlasting. (Isaiah 53, John 15:13, 19:17-18, Philippians 2:5-8, I Peter 2:24) 

The world and all its glory will soon fade away, but what Jesus did on Calvary will shine for eternity. (John 10:28a, Romans 6:23b, I John 2:17)

Still and all, too many were blinded with the excitement of the world to reject the gift of eternal life. This temporary fun has so easily kept them from savoring the joy of being in God's love. (Matthew 7:13)

James 4:14 says every life on earth is like a vapor. It appears for a short and limited time and then, vanishes away. How we spend that little time is a choice we make every day. And we either go after the cravings of this world or walk in the steps of Jesus.

Which one is the better choice?

The popular choice must be an obvious answer. But if we want something that would last, something that will give eternal security, then Jesus is the way.

If we choose a different route that leads to a life with Jesus and away from the world, the first step, as John White explained in his book, Flirting with the World, is to understand that, in this journey, the work is not ours, but God's. We can't free ourselves from our compulsive involvement with the world on our own. "He needs to bring our hearts to the point where we begin to share his viewpoint. Then, we must persist in following after him," White further explained.

This pursuit must begin with prayer. White gave an example of a prayer for a heart that chooses to follow Jesus with sincerity and humility:

"Dear Lord, show me myself. Tell me where I grieve you. I feel within me the pull of the world and I am both ashamed and weak. I want to obey you and yet I find myself craving the things the world offers as well.

"Lord, make Heaven real to me. Teach me to know at the very center of my being that my true citizenship is in heaven, not here on earth. Thank you for the material blessings you have poured on me, but tear the attraction for them from my heart so that I become truly indifferent to wealth, or poverty, and am free to abound or to be in want, indifferent to every circumstance in life except only that I may hold your hand and walk beside you. Show me that the world is a fickle and false companion, and a cruel master. Keep me loyal to you.

"Draw me back into the conflict and teach me to equip myself like a soldier. Deliver me from that kind of retirement that is meaningless and selfish. Show me now, before I retire, while I am still young, how you want me to use my home. Give me wisdom to know whether I should invite others in to pray and study your Word with them. Help me teach my children by my attitude to possessions that this world's riches mean nothing, but that heavenly riches mean everything.

"Deliver me from the lure of TV commercials, or mail advertising. Free me from all the inducement to acquire which bombards me on every side...

"Dear Lord, it seems to me that the time may be short. Hire me like one of those laborers hired at the eleventh hour that I too may labor in your harvest field.

"Blessed be your name, O Lord... Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (qtd in Flirting with the World, pp. 149-150)