MARCH 27, 2012
The Real Thing
Read: 1 John 2:3-11
Whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. —1 John 2:5
A church in Naperville, Illinois, is basking in excitement
about its brand-new bells in the belfry above its sanctuary.
When the church was built many years ago, they didn’t
have the money to purchase bells. However, for its 25th
anniversary they were able to raise the funds to hang
three bells in the vacant space. Even though they are
stunning, there is one problem: the congregation will
never hear the bells ring. Although they look real,
they are artificial.
The apostle John wrote his first epistle to encourage
believers not to just look like real Christians, but to
prove they are genuine by how they live. The evidence
that a person’s faith is real is not found in some mystical
experience with God. The proof that people truly know
and love God is found in submitting to His authority and
to His Word. John writes, “But whoever keeps His Word,
truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know
that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought
himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:5-6).
If we claim that we have been transformed by the gospel
and intimately know and love God, we should validate it
by our obedience to His Word.
Don’t listen to the Word of God
And then ignore what you have heard;
Instead obey God’s will for you—
Be doers of the Word. —Sper
Obedience to God is an expression of our love for God.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012
