1 JOHN 2:1-2
MARCH 10, 2007
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TELL?
1 My little children,
these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone
sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only
but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 (NKJV)
The majority of Biblical Scholars agree that the John who writes this
Epistle is the same St. John who wrote the fourth Gospel. This is the
third of a series of Devotions on the First Epistle of John.
Previous devotions
can be found in the Archives. It is my hope that as we meditate on
St. John’s Epistle, where the keynote is Love, that together we can grow
in our Love of God.
St. John uses these words both to refer to what he has just written and
as a bridge to what he is going to talk about. There are two important
points on which to meditate.
Parents have learned that if just say "don’t" to a child, they may not
get good results. If you say "don’t" and give or show a reason, you get
better results. As an example a hot stove. If you just say don’t touch a
stove, the child may well become curious and touch it when you are not
looking. If you say don’t touch and move your finger toward the stove,
pull it back quickly and say HOT, HOT, HOT, as if you were in pain, the
child may well remember. The child may even walk toward the stove, point
at it, and say HOT as the child backs away. St. John has just talked
about walking in the Light and following Jesus who will cleanse us from
our sins. He wants the people to know how much love Jesus has for them
so that knowing this, they will not want to sin.
In the last half of the first verse and all of the second St. John talks
about what can happen when they sin. He knows they are going to sin
because he is a sinner, just like the people, just like you and me. When
they sin, they will have an advocate to go before God, the final Judge.
That Advocate is Jesus. Jesus can go before the Judge and say, Father, I
have already paid for this person’s sin, set him or her free. Then we
are reminded that Jesus, the Advocate, said that this payment was not
just for our sins, but also the sins of he whole world.
You have been told of Jesus and His Love. You have confessed your sins
and they have been forgiven. Who are you going to tell about Jesus and
His love so that they might love him and they might bring their sins to
Him for forgiveness?
WE PRAY: Help me to experience the true joy of repentance and
forgiveness. Empower me to share that joy with others. AMEN.
A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION
Write down in a few sentences how you have experienced the Love that Jesus has for you. Then for several days, read the words the you wrote. When these words become a part of your thinking, tell a friend abut them.