Sunday 17 Jun 2018

June 17: 1 John 3:21-24

Key Verse: 1 John 3:23
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Devotion:
Would you normally go up to some random person in the street and ask them for something, or would you go up to people who you knew? Personally, I would prefer to go to someone I knew to ask for any sort of help. The closer we are in a relationship with a person, the more we can ask them and the more likely they will be able to fulfil our asking as well. This is not any different to our relationship with Christ. If we are only going to see or speak to Him once a week when we go to church, then how should we expect to be received? If someone only ever came to visit me when something was wrong, then I would begin to think they are only visiting me because something is wrong and they need help.

God wants us to depend on Him for things; but He does not want us to go out there and think we can do it all, wait until we find we can’t and only then come running for help… God wants us to be in a constant relationship with Him so we can see His power, strength and might through His constant supporting us not only in our hour of need, but in our hours of comfort too. His promise is that He will hear our prayers and He will answer them as well. We need to be able to be close to Him to make sure that when He asks something of us, or tells us something, we are close enough to hear Him and then to do His will willingly.

He has given us the great commandments to love Him and to love one another. Those commandments are not to be adhered to just when we feel we should, but always. We can show Him how much we love Him by doing His will. We can show Him how much we love Him by keeping close to Him. But He shows us how much He loves us by answering our prayers – something He has done from before we started to ask, and something He will continue to do even when we do not ask. My only wish would be to be able to walk constantly by His side and not to be distracted by the temptations passing by each and every day.

Points to Ponder:
Which people can you go to and ask anything of?

How much do you take to the LORD?