We had a fascinating dialog Sunday on 1John 3:17 and Luke 8:14 and how it might apply to people we know. For reference:

1John 3:17 “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?”

Luke 8:14 “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”

In 1John the “world’s goods” is “kosmos bios” and in Luke the “cares and riches and pleasures of life” is “merimna ploutos hēdonē bios”. If you see some roots of English words such as “hedonism”, you are right.

So the question asked in the voicemail is if the cares in this life are too important to Jim Cross, Render Caines and Chris Bitterman that it keeps them from maturing, or setting aside the world (“kosmos”) to pursue obedience to the Lord, such as love? I suggest we have evidence for an answer.

Dorothy-Jane, I love you!