We find that they are empty bubbles!

by J.C. Ryle

   "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world!" 1 John 2:15-16

   The possession of the whole world, and all that it contains--will never make a person happy. Its pleasures are false and deceptive! Its riches, rank, and honors, have no power to satisfy the heart! So long as we have not got them--they glitter, sparkle, and seem desirable. The moment we have them--we find that they are empty bubbles, and cannot make us feel content.

   And, worst of all, when we possess this world's good things to the utmost bound of our desire--we cannot keep them! Death comes in and separates us from all our property forever! Naked we came upon earth, and naked we go forth--and of all our possessions, we can carry nothing with us.

   Such is the world, which occupies the whole attention of thousands!

   Such is the world, for the sake of which millions are every year destroying their souls!

"This world is fading away, along with everything that people crave!" 1 John 2:17