December 19 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

1 John 1:

¹That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
²(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
³That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
⁴And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
⁵This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Devotional:

John probably did not have marriage in mind when he wrote this chapter. But it may very appropriately be applied to marriage.

Think of a bonfire at night in the midst of a field. Those who are close to the fire can see one another well and enjoy together the light and warmth. Someone who is near the fire cannot see as distinctly another who is at the edge of the field or in the woods beyond. That one cannot rejoice with him in the light and warmth.

'If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin' (1:7). God is our light. If husband and wife are close to Him their fellowship will be precious indeed. If they are at the fringes of His light, or if they are in the darkness of unbelief, such fellowship is impossible. Nor is this rich fellowship in the Lord possible if only one of the two is a believer.

Where are we in relationship to the Light of the World? Are we walking close to Christ? Light stands for holiness and for knowledge. Do our lives radiate holy living and knowledge of he truth?

What about our relationship with one another? There is a correlation, John says. If we are not satisfied with our relationship with one another we had better see first of all whether we both are really walking in the light with God.