What the world thrusts at you

"Deal as sparingly as possible with the things this world thrusts at you." - 1 Corinthians 7, The Message

The NIV translation of the Bible renders the same passage: "...those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world and its present form are passing away."

Not much to add to that, is there? Don't get attached to your stuff. Of course, there are times when your stuff is something God uses to get your attention or accomplish his purposes, and you have to parse when he is involved and when you are getting caught up in what the world thrusts at you.

And the world does thrust stuff at us, doesn't it? I have more filters & fences in place, now that I am almost 40, but I watch my kids. . . By definition, they are immature, and their brains simply can't filter our society the way I can. Even when they know "what mom & dad think", they have sex and greed thrust at them everywhere they go, like enticing candies offered free with "no strings attached!"

It is not enough to say, don't pursue this world. They must have something they can actively go after. I have heard all sorts of counsel about "get your kids involved in sports or some extracurricular activity" as a drug prevention or something. But that is an easy fix, involving them in an activitiy just because it is controllable and defined from your perspective. Behind it, you must have a strong sense of what skills God requires to live in this world. When is he involved in some earthly pursuit, and when is it going to be a distraction to hearing him?

Jesus himself wants you (and your kids!) to be safe as you navigate your life--but he's not going to take you out of the mess that is this world. He prayed for us, knowing himself what it is like to have the world thrust things at you: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one...Sanctify them by the truth." Protect me, Jesus, from getting in on someone else's plan for me instead of your plan. Use truth to keep me awake to my choices.