Scriptures: 1st John 2:4-5
The one who claims, “I know him,” while not keeping his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in this person. But the love of God is truly perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know we are in him.
Thought for the Day: When I was living in Indianapolis years ago, there was a street light outside my second story bedroom that suddenly started going dim and then bright, then dim and then bright. For weeks, there was this feeling as if someone was turning up a dimmer and then down again. It probably took the city just a little less than a month to fix it. When I see the language of “the love of God is truly perfected in whoever keeps his word,” I find myself a bit nervous as I know I am far from perfect. But the word also could be translated as fullness or completeness. In reading these words, we must always remember how this love is ultimately God’s gift to us, and if God’s love, then it is perfect, complete and full. Within our imperfect lives, I see this love as a light on a dimmer. The power is the same at the source, but we keep dimming it. The power before the dimmer is still the same, but our less than stellar moments reduce its ability to shine through us. Though I know I’ll never get there, my hope for 2018 is to work on removing the dimmer from the God-life that lives in me and desires to be shared through me.
Prayer: May your perfect love, O God whose merciful kindness knows no boundaries, continue to shine through me as I live out your two great commandments. Amen.
SEE YOU IN WORSHIP TOMORROW
