The World’s Way or God’s Way?

That temptation is always there, isn’t it?

The worldly system of doing things seems to always rear its ugly head, tempting us to give in and follow its ways rather than The Way.

And I’m not referring to the temptation to do drugs, view pornography, or embezzle money, though those are certainly huge temptations for some. I’m talking about something much more subtle.

Let me put it in terms of my writing life.

The Lure of Wealth

Supposed gurus and self-made men have come up with programs, costing hundreds if not thousands each, which promise to help me sell more books. While at first glimpse this temptation might seem benign and harmless, it’s really not.

Why? Because it distracts me from my true purpose in writing.

Don’t get me wrong. Selling books is great, and it’s nice to get some remuneration for the hours it takes to conceive, write, edit, re-write, edit some more, re-write some more (several times), put into print and digital format, and publicize a book. But that can’t be my primary motive for writing.

The Lure of Pleasing Man

In addition, as a recovering people-pleaser, the temptation is always there to write books geared more toward entertainment. Again, though I hope readers enjoy my books, that can’t be my primary motive for writing.

Ultimately, neither making money nor entertaining readers is my motivation for writing. My goal with each book is to touch people with the message of who God is and all He’s done for us. If I’m not attempting to impact lives for the Lord with each and every thing I write (including blog posts), then why am I even bothering? If I’m only in the business of writing books to make money, then I’d be better off pursuing a different line of work that pays better. If readers only read my books to be entertained, I’m positive there is a much better use of their entertainment time than reading the books I write.

The Master of Distraction and Temptation

The devil, who is described in God’s Word as the prince of this world, will do everything he can to keep us from reaching the world for Christ. And usually all he has to do is tempt us with something more attractive, something that appeals to us in some shape, form, or fashion. This always involves our pride and fleshly desires.

For Eve the distraction was the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan promised that eating the fruit wouldn’t bring death, but would make her like God.

For me, I could easily be distracted from my primary focus by the lure of selling more books (AKA making more money), pleasing people, and using worldly systems to do both.

For others, it might be the temptation to follow the world’s business practices rather than living a life of faith in the Lord Jesus and trusting Him to provide.

Maybe it’s just our current-day culture, but the temptation to follow worldly systems seems to, more often than not, revolve around money.

You Can’t Have It Both Ways

Jesus knew the reality of that temptation in His time on earth, too. That’s why He warned us in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

He also ran moneychangers out of the temple with these words: “Stop  making my Father’s house a place of business!” (John 2:16, NASB)

In whatever way the prince of the world tempts us to follow worldly systems, I pray for each of us, that our spiritual eyes would be open to the capital-T Truth. Because only by keeping our focus on God’s Way–Jesus–can we honestly serve Him with wholehearted devotion. Everything else is just another one of the enemy’s lies, put in place to distract us from our true purpose.

Father God, every day we’re bombarded with distracting messages put in place by the enemy to keep us from following You. Lord, may our blinded eyes be opened to Your way of life. Help us to wholeheartedly follow You rather than giving into the lies and temptation of Satan. Keep us from worldly ways, no matter how harmless and attractive they appear. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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