1 & 2 & 3 John – Page 3

1 John 2:15-17 – What Do You Love Most?

Have you seen the little jokes or quizzes going around asking if you had to take only one thing with you to the moon, to a deserted island, or some other obscure location what would it be? Sometimes they’ll even give you a list to choose from like chocolate, a book, your pet, wine, a blanket, etc. In other words, what do you love most? While those exercises may seem silly, they get us to thinking about something beyond our current reality.

Today’s reading would caution us from loving things of this world. What does that even mean? Didn’t God create everything that is? Perhaps it’s in the language, the word “of” as opposed to “in”. Everything “in” the world is God’s creation and belongs to him. But those things “of” the world are available because the world has created them.

1 John 2:7-14 – Is It New or Old?

Read 1 John 2:7-14

John is focused on relationships, particularly our relationship with God. When he says “know” he is focusing on more than just our “head knowledge.” He wants us to dig deeper. What do we “know” of God through listening for his voice, reading his word and letting it permeate our being, watching his creation unfold before our eyes? How has the life of Jesus and how he lived impacted us and how we want to live?

John reminds us here of an old commandment, but he’s bringing a fresh, new twist to it. We are to love one another. That’s the old law, and you will recall Jesus also spoke of it (John 13:34) as a new commandment. Loving God is of course always #1, but how we treat each other is of utmost importance, too. What’s John’s twist?

1 John 2:1-6 – Do You Know God?

Read 1 John 2:1-6

I’m so glad John wrote this to us so that we won’t sin! Unfortunately, I don’t think his words can keep us from sinning, it’s not that easy. But his words can make us aware of our sin and what we can do about it. So on the off chance you happen to sin (and you will), we can all be sure that Jesus is ready to save us.

Jesus is portrayed here as our advocate, pleading our case for us. With my legal background, of course, I picture a lawyer in court before the Judge. I have worked on many a case representing the “bad guy” who was still allowed counsel before the judge. What would the sentence be? A good lawyer would make sure the sentence was fair or non-existent in the right circumstances. Jesus pleads not-guilty for us because he, himself is the sacrifice for all sins.

1 John 1:8-10 – We Are Sinners

Read 1 John 1:8-10

This text is familiar to me. I grew up Lutheran. These words were used in our weekly confession/forgiveness portion of the worship service. I took some time today to really let those words sink in. We are sinners. Period. There can be no debate.

What we do tend to do is look around and compare. We think our sins aren’t as bad as that person’s, right? I know I’m not the only one who has done this. But truth be told, a sin is a sin. To God, any sin separates us from him. Every sin, big or small, needs the same antidote, God’s forgiveness. Why do we try to fool ourselves into thinking we’re not sinners? Maybe it’s because we have done something a certain way our whole life but didn’t realize it was a sin. Perhaps we are just in denial saying something like, “well, at least I didn’t kill someone.” We try our best to be “good” people, doesn’t that count?

1 John 1:5-7 – Light or Dark?

Read 1 John 1:5-7

Light or dark? I’m not referring to the type of turkey meat you want on your holiday plate! (If that seems a little odd for an introduction, remember I’m writing this on Thanksgiving to be published and distributed to my subscribers the day after — we’ll probably all be in a food coma by then!) We do have a choice on whether we choose the light or the darkness. Some people would like to think you can flip flop back and forth. God knows our hearts. Where do we belong?

Of course, God wants us all to be with him in the light. There is no darkness in him at all. But there is plenty of darkness when we look around. Our society is crawling with distractions and opportunities to step out of the light. Sometimes it seems to me that the light is shrinking. It’s harder to find the light than ever before. But God is where he has always been. Everywhere. Waiting for us. Sometimes he’s just harder to see because of all the noise and confusion.