In the world, not of it

But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. – John 17.13-15

No matter what, no matter how much we maynot like it, no matter how much we wish it were not so, we have to live in this world. We have to live here from the cradle to the grave.

Jesus doesn’t pray that we would be taken out of this world. He knows that we must be a part of it. If we were taken out of the world, or if we withdraw ourself from the world, we will never be able to reach it. If we were not here who would reach the world with the gospel?

Jesus prays instead that His disciples we would be protected from the evil one while we are here. We have a great enemy opposing us. We need protection from him while we are here lest we be consumed by the world we live in.

What a comfort to know that while we live our day to day lives and while the devil roams the earth seeking whom He may devour Jesus is praying for us.

Verse 16 goes on to say that Jesus prays that we would not be a part of the world. In the world but not of the world. Like a scuba diver who is in the water, but not of it. Like that diver would die if he were of the world we would die spiritually die if we were part of the this world.

God’s people ought to be different from this world. We must be in this world, but we better not be of it.