Anointing 4

1 John 1:6-7

In the first few weeks at our current assignment I was in the church building late one evening and thought I could navigate my way through the Sanctuary to my office without turning on any lights. After taking a few steps into the Sanctuary I hit my knee on the piano that I could not see. It hurt so bad I fell to the floor for a minute or two in pain.

We sometimes live our lives the way I tried to walk through the church. We think we do not need any light from God; we don’t need His guidance or fellowship or love. But we can find out quickly that we are lost without it.

John gives us a wonderful comment on how to live a life of faith. According to verse 6, what is really going on if we only think we are good Christians? What happens when we are in the light of God?

I have been noticing more and more people who come to me with their problems and worries. But, as I talk with them and understand their situation better, I find that they are not the type of Christian we need to be.

They may attend church once or twice a year. They may own a Bible, but it is likely they never read it. And they may say they believe in God and trust in Jesus, but their lives do not exhibit this.

As John points out, if we claim we are with God but we really aren’t, we are lying to ourselves and others. To truly live as Christians means that we walk in the light of God. Walking in the light of God means relying on the wisdom and teachings of Jesus and truly valuing what Christ means to us. It means honestly and sincerely believing in Jesus as our Savior and as the Son of God.

Only then will the blood that Jesus shed on the cross provide us with salvation. Only when we truly try to live a life of holiness, imitating Christ in our attitudes and actions, are we in a real relationship with Jesus and not a superficial, empty one.

As we approach Easter we must examine our relationship with God. Is it true? Is it genuine? Are we really trying to walk in the light of love from God, or are we stumbling in the darkness of sin, fooling ourselves and lying to ourselves about our faith?

DAILY CHALLENGE: What must you do to be walking in the light of God?