Week 40, Day 3
October 5, 2022 Scripture: 1 John 5 “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21) 1 John’s ending is bizarre. No ending, no blessing, no prayer, no “see you later.” It’s also a bit strange that there are no mentions of idols, at all in the letter, until here at the very end. Perhaps there’s a piece of the letter missing. Both the other letters have a better ending postscripts. “Peace to you” and “Send our greetings.” Not the warmest, fuzziest of endings, but the ending of 1 John really is strange, right? I imagine we are missing part of the letter, and we shouldn’t make too much of the ending as it is. But let’s just take what we have, and infer this: The whole life of the Christian is about the love of God and devotion to the one true God, Jesus Christ. Keeping ourselves from idols is the whole of Christianity and following Jesus. As we reflected yesterday on having right doctrine and proper love, keeping ourselves from idols will do just that. The Ten Commandments have much to say about devotion and honor to God. It begins with worshiping God only, and keeping ourselves from idols. Idolatry takes a lot of different shapes in today’s world. I’ve appreciated Tim Keller’s approach, “an idol is a good thing, often made the most important thing.” Money is a good thing, made most important, it’s an idol. Status in society can be a good thing, when it’s the most important part of your life, it’s an idol. Family is a good thing, made most important and it’s an idol. Nationality is a good thing, made most important, it’s an idol. How have you seen this play out in society and in your life? Have you made any of these areas in your life the most important over God? Keep yourselves from making good things the most important things, above a love for God. Worship the one true God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Live your life in Him! Put him at the center, make Christ the priority of your life.
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AuthorJordan Ickes, Minister of Etna Green Church of Christ. Archives
December 2022
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