This week in my time in the Word, I’ve been reading through 1 John over and over. I’ve been going through each epistle like this to get the big idea, the themes, and to try and understand the occasion or reason for each of the letters. Going into this letter I knew I would see love and light as themes, but this week some comparison themes have really stuck out to me. John contrasts light & darkness, truth & lies, and love & hate. Right now, as I am meditating on my time this morning going back through 1 John, I’m struck with the theme of abiding. I went through and highlighted in pink each time abide is used. I also highlighted in yellow each time love is used. You can see from this picture that abide is used a lot in 1 John.
Google defines abide as ‘accept or act in accordance with’. I wasn’t convinced of this definition, so in just a short time studying, I found that the Greek word here was used in reference to dwelling in one’s home, or staying as a guest in someone’s home. The idea is more of a ‘continuing to be present’ or ‘continually keeping or holding’. John tells us to abide in God, to abide in His word, and to abide in His love. John also speaks of God abiding in us. John says, when we let the Word abide in us, God abides in us. He says that when we abide in Him, we will not be ashamed when he comes, but will have confidence. He says that when we abide in Him, we sin less and less. John says that when we love one another God abides in us. He says that when we confess Jesus as the son of God, God abides in us. I can also see from the letter, that when we abide in Him, we are protected from false teachers, we are able to do His will, we have the strength to love the people around us and even our enemies, and we will overcome the evil one!
So today, I’m working on abiding in God. I’m reminding myself that I’m always with God and He is always with me. I’m reminded that God has invited me to stay in His home and to be a permanent resident there! I’m proactively holding onto God, and He is holding onto me, and I’m simply basking in the joy of experientially knowing Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior!
I’m praying that all of us will abide in God more and more! And of course, I’m greatly looking forward to Sunday!
-Pastor Kyle