Are you a lover? Well, that’s not necessarily a good trait. We’re all lovers—it just depends on what we love. Do we love what is right, or do we love what is wrong?
In 2 Timothy 3 there are 19 character traits that describe what people will be like in the “Last Days.” Now, what is interesting about this list is the way it begins, and the way it ends. Verses 1 and 2 say, “This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves,[lovers of money…]” And then in verse 4 it ends the list by saying, “…lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”
Like bookends on a row of books, the list begins with what people will love in the last days, and the list ends with what they will love and not love. It’s all about emotional love—what turns them on and gets them excited.
Now all of these words are compounds of the Greek word philos, which is a word for emotional love—what we like. So what will turn people on in the last days, is self, money, and pleasure.
When I fished for northern pike in Wisconsin, I would use a Daredevil lure. This lure has three hooks attached to a metal plate with red or black stripes. As the lure goes through the water it wobbles so that one of the hooks is facing up at all times. Now I have caught northerns with one hook on the lip, or with two hooks in the gill, or with all three hooks swallowed down the gullet. But it didn’t matter how many hooks it took. The fish still ended up flopping in the bottom of my boat.
Did you know that Satan is fishing with a daredevil lure? Three hooks… lover of self, lover of money, lover of pleasures. If he can get you to bite on any one of these, or any combination of them, you will end up flopping in the bottom of his boat. So don’t get hooked by being a lover of self, money, or pleasure. Be a lover of God.
These may be the last days—but you don’t have to bite on Satan’s lure!