Snails of the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; ¹⁶ for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. (I John 2:15-17)

One bright and beautiful morning, on the bank of a gorgeous lake, a crane was searching for snails. Snails are the best food for the cranes. The crane scratched and pulled the weeds to catch hold of the tasty and yummy snails! All of a sudden his eyes caught sight of a beautiful swan wading on the lake waters. Its wings were pure white and were glazing in the glare of the sun. The crane kept on staring at the swan for some time, as he had never seen such a beautiful creature before. He went near it and asked eagerly, “Hello Mister! Who are you and where are you from?” the swan replied, “I’m a swan and I’m from a place called heaven”. “Oh! Heaven! How does that place look like?” the crane exclaimed. The swan answered, “You can imagine how beautiful that place would be by looking at me.” Then, he further explained about all that is found in heaven, its splendor and glory. He then asked the crane, “Would you like to be a part of it?” The crane was very much excited, but as a second thought came to his mind, he asked, “do you find snails in heaven?” then the swan replied “of course not!” the crane said, “oh! Then I don’t care going to heaven!” Oh what a pity! Swapping the splendor and glory of heaven with dirty snails? This is just an old story, but how true it is! Can you relate this story to your life? Let us see what John the apostle says.

John addresses this text to the house churches in and around Ephesus, a famous metropolitan city in Greco-Roman World that has all the luxury and pleasures of the time. In such a context, these verses come as an important warning to the strong and loyal churchgoers to stay in guard and shun away from all the yummy looking snails of the World. He admonishes saying, do not love the things of the World for they will surely affect your eternal destiny. Those who love the World don’t have the love of God in them. Jesus also says, no one can serve two masters. And John moves on to say that the World and its desires are passing away but those who do the Will of the Lord live forever. You cannot have the things of the World and heaven together. You can either go for snails or heaven. What do you choose today? The perishable snails of the World or the eternal and glorious heaven? Choice is yours.

May God help us to have the Love of God that results in doing the Will of God which leads to eternal life! Amen. 

Blessings

Daniel Solomon Raju