For months now we have been studying together through the book of First John. John the apostle has been sharing with us how much God the Heavenly Father loves us. He has shared about the sacrifice that God has made by sending His Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins by dying on the cross, and He has shown us the provision for fellowship with Him that He has made for us because of this sacrifice. John has given us a charge to love one another and how to be overcomers in the world. Now John brings us to the final words in His wonderful love letter to us which are found in First John chapter five and verse twenty-one. He wrote:
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen
Upon first glance we notice once again how this endearing disciple of Jesus named John is using the title of “Little children” for his readers. If you will recall, John is some ninety years old when he wrote this book, and to him almost everyone is like a little child. We see once again his compassion as a spiritual father to give instruction to his young ones, and his instruction seems to come from out of left field, a different line of thinking, or from somewhere out of the blue. Yet, upon much thought, John's final words align perfectly with the rest of his book.
“Keep yourselves from idols.” Why would John end his book by saying, “Keep yourselves from idols”? The answer may be found in defining what an idol is: An idol is anything, let me repeat, anything that we place in front of, give allegiance to, or devote ourselves to more than God. Anytime we have anything in our lives that takes precedent over our fellowship and relationship with God, we in effect have an idol. Oh today there are not very many in America that have small images made of metals or wood to which they bow down, but there may be activities or relationships which occupy our time, require our money and expect our mental and emotional energy. Some of these relationships or activities may be sinful, however, some of these may be good in and of themselves but have replaced God in our lives. For example, spending time with one's family is very important, however, if family activities have taken precedent over spending time with God, this may become an idol. Idols replace God in our lives, and we must keep ourselves from idols in order to keep ourselves in fellowship with God. No wonder John ended this fascinating book with the idea of keeping ourselves from idols. All through his book John has been emphasizing how much God desires fellowship with us, and if we have anything that becomes a barrier to that fellowship, we should keep ourselves from it or them.
The natural tendency within all of us is to find activities and relationships that draw us away from our time with God. Maybe we should take some time to examine ourselves in this area. Let's start with a few questions, and maybe there will be others that may be asked. “What relationships are in our lives right now that occupy much of our time?” “Are there activities to which we find ourselves so involved that we cannot find time to spend with God in prayer or Bible reading?” “Do we find time for reading this periodical or that book, but find little space for worshiping God or meditating on His word?” “How much time do we spend watching television shows or going to activities other than church?” “When we awake in the morning and all through the day, what is the primary topic upon our minds?” That should be enough to get us started, and certainly there is enough to think about with those questions alone.
John wrote, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols”, and then ended with “amen” which is “So Be It”. May we all meditate upon John's final charge and find ourselves so in love with our Heavenly Father and Jesus that nothing takes precedent over spending time with them.
Next time we shall begin a new book, Second John, and we will take a look at what John says about “truth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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