The Choice

The Choice…loving the world or loving the Father

One of the most disturbing and sad statements in holy writ is the one that comes from the dictation of the apostle Paul where he writes to Timothy in 2nd. Timothy 4:10 and said, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” What a sad statement for the apostle to have to make.
Sad that he was left alone, you might wonder? No, for he wasn’t alone, for his old friend and personal physician, Dr. Luke was there with him and even greater than that he had Jesus through His Holy Spirit living within. It is sad that Demas, who had tasted of the good things of God and who, according to the letter to Philemon, verse 24 was a fellow laborer in the gospel. He was a help in the spreading of the gospel…that’s all we know about him, yet this verse speaks volumes in it’s implication. What would it be like to be a fellow laborer of Paul? It would not be easy, maybe you may have to experience a shipwreck, or maybe you might get run out of town.
Maybe you would have to spend a night or two in stocks. You would be ridiculed for sure…made fun of. We do not know what Demas personally went through. Perhaps ….not perhaps but for sure, you(if you were Demas) would have known what it meant to see souls set free from sin. You would have undoubtedly have seen miracles and/or heard first hand of how God had delivered Paul and Silas from prison as they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight. You would be there to see and hear the great heart of a man as he wept for the lost and there would have been a great bond of love between you and him.
But the lure of the world…there must have been a chink in the armor of Demas. Could it be that he was not putting on the whole armor of God every day as prescribed by Paul in Ephesians chapter 6? But the lure of the world…there is so much to lure us away. I am so susceptible to this myself, I HAVE TO EXAMINE MY OWN HEART EVEN AS I WRITE THESE WORDS TO YOU. You see Demas wasn’t too high on suffering; the Bible says that if we suffer with Him that we shall also reign with Him.
In Philippians 2:29”But to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him
, but also to suffer for His sake.” And Demas would have known this.
What about those you spend your time with? Are you an influence to them or is it the other way around?
Maybe Demas had some unsaved friends too besides his Christian friends and he saw how well they were doing and he envied them. The Bible says that evil associations corrupt good manners. Or maybe in Demas’ case, he just liked the bright lights. Whatever it was that lured him to forsake the apostle and eventually the Gospel, we need to be aware that if we are not careful, if we don’t read God’s Word on any consistent basis, or if we do not seek His face and if we are not careful in our relationships with others, there is danger. 1John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16/For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (and this) verse 17, And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of My Father abides forever.” Demas……only three references to him in the Bible and the one I referred to earlier in Philemon vs 24 is the only place that spells out his relationship to Paul. Nowhere in scripture will we find his history as a staunch believer or any other outstanding ministry. However, the very fact that he is recorded to be a fellow laborer with Paul would seem to indicate that he loved God completely.
You can’t tell a book by it’s cover, an old saying but still relevant. we never hear of Demas again, did he like the prodigal son return to Father and home? Did he like John Mark whom Paul had to dismiss from travelling with him mature, and become useful to the ministry again? There is nothing to indicate that he did. Like the church at Ephesus….he left his first love, like Esau he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. I cannot imagine how God must feel when He sees one of His children forsaking the Gospel for the love of this world. Let us examine our own hearts. Let us determine to live for Jesus each and every day.