HillThread ~ Supporting Missions

1 John 2:1-11
“1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”

John is encouraging us not to sin. But he assures us that when we do miss the mark that God has set for us, Jesus is there to go before God on our behalf. Praise God!

This part of 1 John, especially verses 3-6, hits pretty hard. John lays is out pretty bluntly. If you claim to know God, you will obey his commands. Not just the easy ones, not just half of the time, not just when it’s convenient or when you’re reminded to. Walk as Jesus walked.

Philippians 3:7-9 – “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I
consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. ”

Do you love Jesus so much that everything else in your life feels like trash compared to Him? Think about the trashcan in your kitchen, it always has the messiest, grossest, and most stinky trash (or at least ours does, haha). You come home and you’re hit with this stench from across the room and you hang your head as you realize you put last night’s spaghetti scraps and various refrigerator leftovers in the trash but you forgot to take it outside to the dumpster. It’s been rotting all day, and now you have this vile stink filling your house and making you a little dizzy, but you’ve got to take it outside because the smell just gets worse with time. As you move closer, the smell gains strength and your stomach starts churning. When you close up the trash bag, that little puff of air hits you in the face and you gag and almost hurl your lunch as you tie
it up and race outside bag-in-hand hoping it’s not dripping on the floor. That’s some nasty trash!

Is that how you view all your good deeds and material things when you compare them to Jesus and knowing that He died to offer you salvation from your sins? Are you seeking God’s wisdom and striving to grow closer to Him more each day, or are you wasting time building up riches, trying to impress people with what you wear, what you own, or what you’ve accomplished?

Paul was saying that all the stuff in his life that he thought made him a good person (all of his rule-following and “righteous” deeds and all of the high-ranking positions and accomplishments that he achieved) was worthless compared to knowing Jesus. THAT is love and devotion to God.

My prayer is to be so in love with God and so devoted to Him that everything in my life stinks like the kitchen trashcan when compared to Jesus. Will you join me in that prayer? Compared to knowing Jesus, everything else just fades away.

Related Text:
John 17:3
“And this is the real and eternal life: that they know you, the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”