[363 words]
There are many people who look on those who are religious as naïve, that is, people with good intentions, but devoted people deluded by ideas not based in reality. Though this is hardly the case, it matters not; some just choose to think this because they desire to live in accordance with what the world presents. Unfortunately, many Christians give them reason to think this because they themselves do not align their lives with the confession of Christ they express.
In my devotional reading this past week, I read 1 John 1:1-4. As I read, I reflected on what the Lord’s apostle was saying. Consider at a certain point in history, the man John was with the man Jesus; not only was he with Him, but so were other men (1:1). John presents himself as a credible man; he heard Jesus speak, he saw Jesus in his presence and when there was occasion to have any physical contact, John had it.
More than that, though Jesus was physically present, it was His message that changed lives, and John included himself in one of those lives changed. The change that overcame John was not the mere physical presence of the Lord, but the message that registered in his heart, the heart of a man willing to change. While John was a credible man, it was Jesus’ message and miraculous works that shouted credibility from the mountain tops. Why do people not give attention to it? The Lord’s apostle knew, and he said people do not come to the truth because the love of darkness was greater than the love of God’s truth (John 3:18-21). People can change if desired, but if there is no desire there is no change (the practicality of life illustrates this very well).
The apostle John was a credible man, as was the Lord Jesus. The message both preached is a message that can be tested. It’s not a message of mind illumination, like academics teach in a university. It’s a message that penetrates to the heart (if you will) of a person, changing him or her from darkness to the light of God’s life.
Ron Thomas
Sunrush church of Christ
Chillicothe, OH