The True Light Is Already
Shining
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you
may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for
ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his
commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his
commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but
whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached
perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide
in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old
commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the
word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true
in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is
already shining. Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or
sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in
the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever
hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not
know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.
1 John 2:1-11
You are who God says you are. Nothing really matters except
whether you are identified as a child of God. That alone will dictate your
eternal destiny, and that alone will indicate whether you can live life to the
fullest. There are three identity qualifiers that reveal whether or not we are
God’s children: We know that we have come to know the Lord if we obey His
commands; Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus walked; Anyone who
claims to be “in the light” will avoid hatred toward others. Who are you? Do
you know Jesus? If so, you will obey His commands, walk as He did, and love
others. Your identity is secure in Christ.
Our Daily Bread –