Day 335

Daniel 8:1-27; 1 John 2:1-17; Psalm 120:1-7; Proverbs 28:25-26

AS HARD AS it might be to believe, today we began the final month of our year together. Even though the days are short, we still have much poignant ground to cover before we finish the Bible. For example, in our reading from 1 John today, we were invited to contrast our claims with our actions.

In harmony with the letters of James and Peter, John taught that the evidence for a claim of faith is a transformed life; otherwise, it is an untrue claim. He explained it this way:

If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

As we can see, John didn’t mince any words about this. Why would he? The fundamental goal of our faith is that we might live our lives as Jesus did, and becoming Christlike isn’t only something we claim or say —it is something we must become, which requires our participation and collaboration with God. This doesn’t apply only to our interaction with God; it touches all of our relationships, as John explained:

If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

John’s point was clear —talk is cheap. We can claim whatever we like, but if our words and deeds are incongruent, we aren’t living truthfully. But why are we pulled toward what is false? According to John, the problem is that we’ve put our trust in the world. Let’s be clear: When John spoke about the “world,” he was not referring to planet earth. Rather, he was describing the world’s system. In this context, the world could broadly be described as humankind’s attempts to have an existence on this planet apart from God. If we put our faith and hope in a system designed to exalt man, then we are trusting in the world, and God is not in it. This is why our sensual cravings for everything we see and our pride in accomplishment and possessions cannot fill the void in our souls. If we’re going to tether ourselves to this kind of existence, then, according to John, we cannot make true claims of faith.

If we’ll take some time today to examine ourselves by contrasting our claims and our actions, we’ll find that our deepest insecurities are tied to our attempts to make life work without God. Instead, we’re looking to the world to give us meaning and purpose, and therefore we react in pride and selfishness, or we surround ourselves with possessions so we can mask the emptiness.

John challenged us to pull away from the fading world system and realize that we have been given much more than the world could ever offer —we have been swept into the dance of eternal life. Let’s embrace this fully today and choose to align our claims and our actions.

MEDITATION:

Greed causes fighting; trusting the LORD leads to prosperity. Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.