Two very different verses drew me in. I’ll take them in the order I read them.
Verse 6: No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Reading 1John can give me the impression that to sin in any way is an ultimate ‘no no.’ I realize that John is making the point that sin is not good, but sometimes my personal ‘guilty meter’ gets pegged with some of his sin verses. The phrase in verse 6 continues to sin actually gives me comfort. My sense is that John is drawing a line differentiating when I fall into sin and when I embrace it and continue to do it… maybe because ‘Ahh, God will forgive me anyway!’ For me, at least, verse 6 places an element of not caring about sin or as I said above, intending to sin in full mind and thought!
I am far from perfect and I do sin and do so regularly. But generally I don’t dismiss it or even look for it and continue anyway. This verse says to me that there is a difference between sin and recurring, wonton, willful sinning. No sin is good and I will always be a sinner in need of grace. However, a redeemed heart and life filled with the Spirit shouldn’t look to sin but should look to live for Jesus and advance Christ’s cause in this world…
The second verse for me today was verse 13: Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. It took me by surprise. And the surprise showed me how soft I have become for the Gospel. I am surprised when I am disliked (I don’t think I am hated for the Gospel’s sake) because of my various stands built on the Gospel. I guess there is still a part of me that has the ‘fairy tale’ notion that as a Christ-follower everyone should at least like me. This has never really been reality for God’s people, except maybe for a few centuries when the entire Roman world seemed to be Christian. I am realizing more and more lately as my world passes into post-modernity that being loved by my world is not possible unless I capitulate on key Scriptural teaching.
So why do I believe this? And why do I fool myself into thinking everyone should love me when I stand with Jesus? And worse yet, why do I question when people don’t love me? Even as I think about this, I realize that I am called to love others and if they are hating me because they are reflecting back to me my hatred for them… then I have a problem. But if I am living in a loving, Christ honoring manner and have to take a tough stand and am hated for it… I need to live with that. Better to please God as opposed to other people
Well, I have certainly traveled interesting paths in my reading and meditations today. May it be for the glory of God and the refinement of my life according to the way of Jesus…
Thank You, Lord, for Your Word… life for my heart and soul and mind. I praise You and pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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