Walking in the Light

I am reading 1 John. It is so powerful. Seriously, every time I delve into its pages I am just filled with so much thought, so many ideas. It doesn't matter how many times I've read it before, there is so much more to learn.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
-- 1 John 1

I don't really know where to begin. So I guess I'll do the usual and jot down points. And then proceed to go off on wild tangents. Bear with me.

1) This is meant to be real. This isn't some high holy lofty theology which was never meant to touch our hearts and souls. The author of 1 John has several points under this. Our faith is real, it can be testified to, and we share it in order to have fellowship. Now, I know someone is saying, "But faith is trust in something that can't be proven, something you can never be truly sure of." I disagree. No, I cannot quantify God, I cannot quantify our faith. I cannot go out to the "field" and find some way to measure numerically faith. But regardless, I still know that my faith is true, that it is spot on. I went through a period of my life where I really doubted it. I was at the point where I was debating the truth of my own existence (philosophy wise--not crazy insane person wise). But now....now I have seen and experienced too much to ever doubt the reality of what lies before me. I have an incredible God, with an incredible truth to offer.

2) I know I say this all the time. But the following passage is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I have a really hard time with favorites because a) the Bible is just awesome, b) every time you read a passage it says even more to you and c) there is just so much to get out of everything.

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
--1 John 5-10

That's pretty heavy stuff right there. And, there are some extremely important points in there.

A) God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

It's a comforting thought, especially in a world where there always seems to be a flip-side to everything. There is no "flip-side" to God. He is light. He is good. He has your sincerest interest at heart. He is love. There is no darkness in God, for he is the pure embodiment of good. Dark cannot mix with light. It simply won't work, which is why in order to walk with Him, we have to choose to walk in the light.

Seems easy. Seems like a simple concept. A "duh" moment. But it really isn't. It's probably one of the tougher things we will ever have to do in life. Making that choice...going against the world to live in the light when it is shrouded in darkness...you become the anomaly in the world that must be struck down and made to conform.

There is more to being a Christian than saying the sinner's prayer. It is more than just words. It is a deeply complex CHOICE. It is only by choosing to "walk in the light" that we can have fellowship with one another, that we can truly be purified from sin. How often have you seen a "Christian" that is into some truly bad habits, heavy drinking, drugs, promiscuity, whatever, and their excuse for it all is that they'll just be forgiven when they need to be, that all they need to do is ask for it? I'm not a theologian, but it looks like Biblically, that statement doesn't fly. Being a Christian, walking in the light is a choice, and a ridiculously difficult one at that. But it isn't impossible. I'm also not saying that we don't make mistakes, that Christians are perfect. That's a complete lie right there. We all make mistakes. It happens. We're human. But making them consciously and just expecting to be forgiven is the wrong way to treat an incredible gift, and a way that probably doesn't work in the end. After all, sometimes I think we can be our own worst enemy.

B) I kind of mentioned it above, under the "Christians aren't perfect," but I thought I should say that again. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. And, more importantly, we all sin. Have you ever met a Christian who says they're perfect, blameless, without any past, present or future sin? It seems crazy, but I have. But the next verse really proves my next point in a more perfect way than I ever could. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the word is not in us...If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

If we are perfect, than why do we need Jesus? If we can be perfect than what place does he have in our lives? The answer: If we are perfect, he doesn't belong. And there would have been no point to his life, no point to sacrificing himself for us, laying down His life for us. But we have sinned, and He did how His incredible love for us by laying down his life. We have sinned, all of us, and we "all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)." It was incredible love that created a bridge for us to be able to join in fellowship with God. When we admit our sins, when we choose to walk in the light, "he is faithful and just." He purifies, He gives us our crown of righteousness, he forgives. But it is a choice, to walk in the light. It is a choice to freely come forward and commit your life to something more challenging than anything you have ever faced before. It isn't easy. But the return is so worth it.

"We write this to make our joy complete."

My joy is not found here, it is found in the eternal, and it pours out here on earth. In Him my joy is complete. In Him, my joy is found.