Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from 1 John 1:5-7.

 

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”  1 John 1:5-7.

 

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“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world;  he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  John 8:12.

 

Thus, we walk in the Light by following Jesus, “the Light of the world”.

                                

We can better follow Jesus if we look and focus on Jesus.  It is easy for us to agree with this point that we should look and focus on Jesus, but I experience in myself, and also see in other Christians, a tendency or attraction to look at ourselves.

We are more inclined to look at ourselves and try to do on our own what we think we should do.  The question posed by the Jews to Jesus is also our question:  “… What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”  John 6:28.  (Emphasis added.) 

But, notice Jesus’ answer:  “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”  John 6:29. 

If we truly believe that Jesus is “the Light of the world”, through God’s grace (“the work of God”), then we will be more inclined to look and focus on Jesus, rather than look at ourselves.   

If we are to follow Christ, we should above all seek to see Him:  “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith …”  Hebrews 12:2. 

We keep our eyes on Jesus by faithfully reading God’s Word and meditating and believing, through God’s grace, what it teaches us about Jesus.  

If we take our eyes off of Jesus, then we will slow down, fall behind or wander. But, if we keep our eyes on Him, we can almost effortlessly follow Him.  We do not need to think about:  “Am I walking fast enough?  Am I tired?  Am I staying on course?”  If we keep our eyes on Jesus, then we will be able to follow Him:  “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”  2 Peter 1:3.

Likewise, we are comforted that we will be able to follow Him, because the Christian life is often described as a walk.  (For examples:  “walk in the Light”  Verse 7;  “walk by the Spirit”,  Galatians 5:16;  “walk in My statutes”,  Leviticus 26:3;  “walk in newness of life”,  Romans 6:4;  and “walk in a manner worthy of the calling”,  Ephesians 4:1).  

Finally, we have Christ’s promise.  “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give eternal life to them; and they shall never perish;  and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28.

In conclusion, to tie everything together and summarize, we walk in the Light by following Jesus, “the Light of the world”.  We follow Jesus by “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith …”  Hebrews 12:2.  We fix our eyes on Jesus by faithfully reading God’s Word and meditating and believing, through God’s grace (“the work of God”), what it teaches us about Jesus.  We can do it.  It is a walk.  And, we have the Good Shepherd (Jesus) to insure that we do walk in His Light and follow Him.