I saw a video online recently that a building owner in downtown Dallas had posted. The owner had an old building in the downtown area with an alley behind it where there were a few parking spaces that were reserved for its customers and employees. The building was located just a block or two away from an entertainment district. The entire video was focused on the back alley and those few parking spaces. The building owner had posted several NO PARKING signs, and there were video cameras focused on the alley.
Because the building was close to the entertainment district, there would be several people each day trying to find parking spots so they could go to the clubs/bars in the close by district, and many people would drive up that alley seeking a place to park for free. The video showed how some people would park in the spots without even glancing at the signs. Others would get out of their cars and read the signs and then stand there thinking for a moment or two and then just shrug their shoulders and leave their car parked in the alley.
One of the things to notice in the video was how frustrated and angry people would get who had ignored the signs, when they returned to find their cars had been towed away. According to the video, there were over nine NO PARKING signs along the side of the building, and at one point the building owner had even had a speaker on the side of the building that would tell people not to park there – yet people continued to park there, no matter how many times they had been warned, and people continued to be angry when they would return to find their cars were gone.
That is the same way thousands of people are with giving into their flesh and following this world. Over and over again, the Bible has verses like “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.” (1 John 2:15), “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2), and “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
These verses are CLEAR and OBVIOUS, just like those NO PARKING signs. And yet, people just think they can simply ignore them, and continue their love affair with this world around us! And then people also get angry or frustrated when their lives end in disaster, or when everything seems to fall apart.
Always remember what the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:8, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” And Job said, “As I have observed, those who plow iniquity, and those who sow trouble, reap the same.” (Job 4:8) We can’t go on loving this world and feeding our flesh, and like those people parking their cars in the alley, simply shrug our shoulders and say “Aw…nothing will happen, we’ll be fine!” And we certainly have no right getting angry at God or anyone else, when we reap what we’ve sown!
The “corruption” from this world has destroyed many a life, and God hates that. That is why He warns us over and over again – “DON’T LOVE THE WORLD!” just like a “NO PARKING” sign! This world and its pleasures may seem harmless to us, just as parking in that alley – but if we ignore the “signs”, we will reap the results!