The Walk
How do you know if Jesus is in your life?
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
According to John, the first thing we must do is obey his commandments.
Jesus told his followers that he was not writing a new commandment, but was teaching them to obey the old ones, and then he offered a new one anyway, one he wrote to simplify the work of following the commandments.
Love one another.
It sounds so simple and yet we have a hard time doing it.
If we hate, we live in darkness, but if we choose love, we live in the light.
Jesus is the light and the truth, so we should strive to be where he is. If we can do that, we know Jesus in our lives.
But can we walk as Jesus walked? Can we really live our lives with a focus on others, loving them and wanting to make their lives better?
What if all Jesus wants of us is to try?
If we take a moment in the day, and we devote it to loving others, then maybe it will become two moments, then three, and then a whole day.
Maybe, if we take one step with Jesus, we can find that over time we are walking his walk with him.
More to come...