Daily Devotion (July 18, 2024)
1 John 5:1–4 (NKJV)
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
Whoever “believes.” One definition of believe is, “Believes is the third person singular present tense of the verb believe, WHICH MEANS TO ACCEPT OR REGARD SOMETHING AS TRUE, HONEST, GENUINE, OR REAL, OR TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE TRUTH, EXISTENCE, OR RELIABILITY OF SOMETHING, SOMETIMES WITHOUT ABSOLUTE PROOF. Believe can also mean to accept the statement, opinion, or evidence of someone or something, or to hold something as an opinion or supposition.
If we believe that Jesus is the “Christ born of God” then we love God. To love God is to spend time with God. If we have accepted God, we have the desire to be with Him. We want to be with the one we love! Many make a profession of faith in God and then go back to living the life they lived. Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “… If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Many profess Christ with their mouth but never accept Him in their life. They love all the frills and thrills of Christianity but never come to the point of true acceptance of Jesus.
An athlete does not just walk onto a field and start playing a sport with the expectation of winning. Behind the scene of a player hitting a home run, or throwing a game winning touchdown, or crossing a finish line in a race are many hours of arduous work in honing the skill and ability given them to perform at the top of their game. A believer in Jesus Christ does not just say they are saved; they prove their salvation by allowing God to work in their life and hone their life into the perfection of Jesus. Just as an athlete knows the rules of the game the Christian learns the rules of God and practices these rules. He spends time in preparation in following the rules.
When the home run is hit, the touchdown scored, the game has been won then the celebration is shared with the team.
The team is the church. The team is important. The team helps each individual in succeeding in following the rules and commandment of the Christian life.
So many never experience the excitement of the Christian life. They have not been taught the rules of the Christian life. They go to the pep rallies and then go away empty. Many leave a worship service empty because they do not understand the Chrisitan life is more than just professing Christ with the mouth it is dying to self so Christ can live in them.