Walking in the Light
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010We are born into the family of God and thus become His sons or daughters. This relationship is an eternal relationship and can never be broken. Some people struggle with this and constantly worry about losing their salvation.
Eternal security has never been much of a problem for me to understand because is it true that if you are a son or daughter here today; If you are a son or daughter, raise your hand…
If you are one of those, then you were born into a family, and you are eternally a part of that family. Your dad may leave you; you may run away from home, but you can never break the parent-child relationship with your mom and dad.
This brings us to the second type of relationship John speaks about in this wonderful book we call 1 John and that is a relationship not of standing but of intimacy or fellowship.
It is possible for you to get out of fellowship with your dad or your mom. Things can come between you and them and your fellowship with one another is broken. Therefore it follows that we can be saved, and yet not be in the right kind of relation to God that He desires because we’re rebellious, or we’re selfish, or we haven’t put as much time, energy and effort into the relationship as we should have or could have.
This is what John speaks to in verses 5-7 of 1 John.
A hiker in Alaska was met on his journey by a snowshoe salesman. “Hey buddy!” shouted the salesman. “How about a pair of quality snowshoes for your journey?” he asked. Scanning the clear path ahead of him, the hiker politely refused the salesman’s offer. He calculated that he could beat the coming storm on the way to the ski lodge.
As he traveled, the weather suddenly became worse. The clear path was soon covered by a white blanket of snow. Struggling to find the path, the hiker stepped into a snow bank and sank to his knees. By this time, he was getting cold. Panic began to set in. He struggled to take steps toward his destination—that warm ski lodge where all his friends would be gathered around the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate.
The hiker was stuck and he knew it. “If only I had bought those snowshoes,” he sighed with a fatalistic resignation. When his hope had almost faded away, that same salesman greeted him again: “Hey buddy! Want those snowshoes now, don’t you?” This time the sale was made and the hiker walked on top of the snow. Waiting for him was warm fellowship…and life!
The point in this story is that hikers cannot walk in snow without snowshoes. And you cannot have warm intimate fellowship and life with God without walking in the light and getting rid of the sin in your life. This brings us to the subject of our passage:
► Find areas of your life that are dark, and ask God to show you the way out.
My Professor in college Dr. Lloyd Allen said that he and his friends used to talk all the time about going camping. In fact, they created a "camping club" where they would regularly meet and talk about the aspects of camping they enjoyed most: sitting by a fire; roasting marshmallows, being close together with family and friends. Then he said they had to rename the club because they never actually went camping. So they changed the name from "camping club" to "talking about camping club".
When you look at your relationship with God, there should be evidence that you are doing more than simply talking about your relationship with Him. You should be moving towards greater Christ-likeness. Your attitude and actions should be different than those who do not know Him. The words you use should not be the same ones others use who have foul language. Your knowledge about God should be increasing, and your actions obeying His Word should be increasing.
A note here though, if you are not a Christian, I am not saying that you have to be at any certain point, before you can become a Christian; All I am saying is that according to John, if you claim to be a Christian, but there is no sign, even a small one, of you moving in the direction toward Christ-likeness, Then you are not a Christian.
Jesus himself said in John 8:12,
“I am the light of the world, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 8:12
If you want to have intimacy with God then you have to recognize that His Son's love for you is the basis for any kind of relationship with Him.
Jesus, the Light, guides. His light allows you to walk out of darkness. You no longer have to grope, grasp, and stumble about trying to find your way through life. The path of life can now be clearly seen.
In fact, I challenge you to Find areas of your life that are dark, and ask God to show you the way out.
And by the way, you will never have intimate relationships with anyone in your earthly life if you don't have an intimate relationship with Jesus in your spiritual life.
You want a better marriage? Then cultivate a better union with Christ.
You want better friends; the kind that walk in when everybody else walks out? Then be a better friend to Jesus.
You want a deeper relationship with your earthly father? Then build a stronger one with your Heavenly Father.