People who are ungodly find their pleasure in the things of this world, which change! I recently read about how Elon Musk went from the richest man in the world to number two. The richest man is now some guy in France. Musk lost something like 20 or 30 billion dollars. If your world is just money — whew! You’re in for a roller-coaster ride, but that’s how the ungodly live.
The ungodly not only live for the wrong things, they sneer at God. Sometimes there are ungodly people who storm out while I’m preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. They don’t pray; that’s one of the signs. The Bible talks a lot about the ungodly. God is going to judge the ungodly. They don’t just not care about spiritual things, they mock those who do.
One of the signs of godly people is they run to prayer and the throne of grace. Their priorities are God and the things of God. Yeah, they have a life, a job, vacations, raising kids, all of those things; but they’re also dedicated to worshiping with others, reading the Bible, serving God. They love what God loves; they hate what God hates. They are devoted to God. It’s a heart thing, not necessarily all of these actions. You can be a preacher and not devoted to God. You can do it for the money or attention or just to make a living.
‘Godly’ isn’t a word we use much anymore. When you read books from a hundred or two hundred years ago, they would say things like “Oh, that brother, he’s godly; that sister, she’s godly.” We should want that. Scripture says, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. …But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:9,11, ESV).
If you’re saying, “I promise to be more godly this year!” Stop. Instead, ask God for the grace of consecration to a godly life. Constantly be asking God to rearrange your priorities. It’s a daily thing.
Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.