Verse of the Day 12/12

Verse of the Day 12/12

1 John 2:5-6.  New International Version

5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

My wife Jean recently had a conversation with our youngest grandson, Jack, who is six years old about ground hogs and woodchucks.  I had spotted one by our house and Jean told him that I had seen a woodchuck.  The conversation went on to the saying "how much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?".  Jack said, "Gigi, you know that a wood chuck can't chuck wood, right?"  When questioned on this he replied, "let's review this, I'll break it down slowly, it says ' IF a wood chuck could chuck wood',  meaning that it really can't chuck wood.  We had a good time with it and I pulled up the GEICO commercials that showed wood chucks chucking wood.

I say all this to show the importance of small words as we read through the Bible.  We shouldn't simply gloss over them, verses and passages hinge on them.  In verse 6 above, we'll consider the word "must".  In context it reads,  6 "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."

How important is that word to the passage and more importantly in our lives as "Christ followers"?  If we claim to be Christ followers, living in Him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will live as Jesus did.  Not in power but by His grace in which we stand.

To know how Jesus did live we need to know His Word.  We need to know truly how He lived not based upon our own opinions of "what would Jesus do?".   It begins with a love for the Lord and for others; family, friends and strangers.

As we prepare for Christmas may it be in our minds that we "must" live as Jesus lived.

As you read through His Word pay attention to words like "if, since, but, and all".  Perhaps you'll have some others that catch your attention.  They will help you to know the passages better and to know how to live as Jesus livd.

Blessings,

Mike

Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

1 John 2:3-8

New International Version

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.