February 14, 2023 | Be On Mission
Jesus Forgave Our Sins & Calls Us To Obey
Scripture: 1 John 2 (NIV)
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear 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. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Devotional
Grab a large sheet of paper. As quickly as you can from memory, write down everything that Jesus said and did. Make it a work of art. Write down a phrase or even a single word to remind yourself of something Jesus said. Draw a symbol or a picture to represent something Jesus did. Scribble a line from a hymn or song. Don’t worry. Nobody is going to hang your work of art in the Sistine Chapel. Go ahead and do this before you move on to the rest of this devotional reading.
Now that have created a montage of Jesus’ life, add the words of 1 John 2:6 in big letters: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
Okay, this little art project just got real. For John, being a follower of Jesus was not merely about getting your heart aligned with His, it was also about getting your lifestyle aligned with His.
As you look over your Jesus mosaic, do some self-examination. In what ways are you walking as Jesus did? Are there any ways in which you are going your own way? If so, John gives us some insights as to why, when he writes, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”
Are any of these your black hole, leading you places you don’t desire to go? Are any of them holding you back from walking as Jesus did? What does God want you to do about it?
Poem
Guide
1 John 2:1 MSG
When I was young and had to go
To school along a way
I had a Guide—my brother’s hand
His steps the path conveyed
When older grew, horizons spanned
To places yet unchartered
I had a Guide—unfolded map
The roads their courses marked
When now I drive, my Google Maps
Plans routes with great precision
I use this Guide quite easily
With trust without decision
When in my life Sin overwhelms
Aware or hidden deeply
I need a Guide—Christ’s rod and staff
Repentance ever meekly
And so my hand unfolds the Map
Of scripture ever guiding
Trustworthy plans of Comfort’s voice
My Guide o’er me presiding
