And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
When we come across the term “world” in the Bible, it isn’t speaking of the Earth. Rather, it is often speaking of a system, a mentality, or a way of thinking that is hostile to the Kingdom and authority of God. This system, this mentality, is controlled by “the god of this world,” also known as Satan.A serious snare of Satan for the Christian is ‘friendship with the world’. That is a desire for the pleasures and honours the World offers. The Bible warns, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God”. In the original language, the term “friendship” in this verse appears only in the New Testament and speaks of a strong emotional attachment, to love, to have affection for, or even to kiss.
The Christian who turns from Christ and His church to seek pleasure and satisfaction from this world has put other gods in place of God – and that is idolatry. That is the message God gave Jeremiah for His wayward people: “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water”.
A cistern is a large well or pool carved in a rock. A broken cistern has a leakage and can’t hold water. God is saying, “If you go out there to the world and drink from its well, you will not be satisfied.” True contentment is found only in Christ.
