Daily Devotion, February 3, 2021

 

Devotion:

Read 1 John 1:5-10.

UV-C light rays and an ionizer can cleanse the surface areas of mobile phones. Beyond this statement, and having received the gift this year that does this, that’s all I know. Thanks be to God for this invention and its inventors!

From around two thousand years ago, these verses tell us how God cleanses our hearts. God is light and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Woven within these declarations are five “If we” statements which give us understanding of how this works and evidence of God’s work within us.

The first two call us to “walk in the light.” This means we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus to walk in the light of God and to enjoy the fellowship of being in God’s light. On this path, we live with the assurance that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

The third “If we” calls us away from our own self-deception of having no sin and tells us the truth is not in us.

The fourth “If we” calls us to know that we can confess our sins to God. “God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What a powerful declaration of God’s love to us! We are forgiven and we are free to be in fellowship with God through the gift of Christ!

The fifth “if we” calls us again to not say, “we have not sinned”. If so, “we make God a liar.” As The MESSAGE translation says, “A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.”

We are God’s children. God forgives our sins. Being cleansed from all sin, the evidence of living in God’s light is loving our brothers and sisters, all of them. In the light of God’s love, we can see new ways to love our brothers and sisters.

Personal Worship Option:

I John 4:21-22 says, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” We need your help, O God, to truly love all of our brothers and sisters. Amen.