When Jesus Barely Matters

ALL – Psalm 119:156-176
ALL – Proverbs 28:23-24
OT – Daniel 7:1-28
NT – 1 John 1:1-10

Interesting passage for the day: So if we say we are his friends, but go on living in spiritual darkness and sin, we are lying. – 1 John 1:6, The Living Bible

Thought: If we want to make friends with someone, we will usually try to fit in with them. We will relate to them. We will do what pleases them, and if we’re doing things that upset them, we’ll stop.

Would our lives say that we’re friends with Jesus? Jesus lives in truth and righteousness and joy and grace. Are we fitting in with Him? Are we relating to Him? Are we doing what pleases Him?

If not, you may need to consider whether or not your belief that you know Him is true. You are deceiving yourself if you say that you know Jesus but your life isn’t conforming to His.

On the other hand, some of you are super-sensitive. You love Jesus very much, and your life has changed greatly because you have received His gift, the Holy Spirit. You are doing everything you can to please Jesus. But you are deeply aware of the times you have not pleased Him. You pretty much despise yourself because you’ve sinned against Him. And when you hear that those who aren’t pleasing Jesus are lying about a relationship with Him, you begin to fear because you know you haven’t walked perfectly in His light.

Take heart. For you who love Jesus and give yourselves wholeheartedly to Him, sensitive to each time you fail Him, there is an encouragement for you a few verses down (v 9): “But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”

So let’s not be half-hearted about our relationship with Jesus. Living as though Jesus barely matters to you is a good reason to question whether you know Him at all. But for us who are devoted to Jesus, grace is available even when we hurt Him and sin against Him. What a wonderful, kind God! Why give Him any less than our best?

Question: If Jesus were not a part of your life, would you be any different? Ok, you probably wouldn’t attend church. But would there be any differences from Monday to Saturday? How do you believe Jesus would like you to demonstrate your friendship with Him?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.