Walking the Walk

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Scripture

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
(1 John 1:6 NASB)
but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
(1 John 1:7 NASB)

 

Observation


John was sure that there could be no distinction between declaring our faith in Jesus Christ and the way in which we live our lives. This process of walking referred to something continuous and on-going. It wasn't a morning walk or stroll from time to time, it was the on-going act of walking throughout one's life. Therefore if one said that they had fellowship with Christ, and yet did not walk with him on a daily basis -- they were simply lying. There is no way to have on-going fellowship with Jesus Christ if we are not in a continuous on-going relationship with him. Interestingly it goes on to say that if we walk in the Light -- which means that we walk with Him -- then the end result us fellowship with each other. We end up walking the walk with others who are walking the walk and for those individuals they have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Application


Just this morning I was reading my friend Mike Boswith's post about his son Grant. In the last year and a half Mike's son had a strange medical accident which has left him in a coma and daily we are praying for Grant's recovery. In the meantime Mike's dear wife, Carol, had a recurrence of her cancer and after a few short months of a courageous battle, she went home to be with the Lord. Each Sunday Mike continues to pastor his church and in the midst of his pain share the truth about Jesus Christ. Yesterday he asked the question as to whether it's truly possible to love others without loving Jesus? I believe that the profound love that God wants us to have for those around us, the fellowship he wants us to have with those around us must come from the overflow of our love for Jesus Christ. That's why that statement by John is so interesting -- he jumps to saying that when we walk in the Light -- the result is fellowship with one another. This is when we begin walking the walk -- it is seen our love for others and our response to the world around us.

The challenge for us all is to remain in that continuous walk with Jesus Christ on a daily basis. It's not just a Sunday morning thing, and the author's language becomes pretty strong at this point. He says that we are lying if we are walking in darkness and not continually in the Light. Not only are we lying, but we don't even understand what truth is. Why is that? Because Jesus himself IS Truth. There is no Truth but Jesus Christ and anytime we stray away from him we lose our compass which points us in the direction of Truth and when we walk without our compass, we get lost. To truly know him, we will walk the walk, because He IS the walk!

 

Prayer


Lord, please help me today to remain close to you in all things. Amen.

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