How well do you KNOW Him?

There is A LOT to unpack in 1 John 2. Good thing I’m no stranger to baggage?  Haha. I’m actually still swirling downward in my deep dive regarding false teachers and the Antichrist that you will find near the end of the chapter in verses 18-27.

I honestly think I procrastinated on getting there, because I was having too good of a time sitting in the first part about living a clean life. The Holy Spirit kept pointing things out to me and that’s what is on my heart to share with you today. 

Have you ever seen the photo of Jesus kneeling down with His arm stretched out to a little girl who is clutching a teddy bear? You can tell the bear is something the little girl does not wish to hand over to the Lord.  She is holding onto it for dear life. The caption above Jesus reads, “Just trust me..” and above hers, “But I love it, God..” 

And there Jesus sits, patiently waiting for her to make the choice to trust Him and relinquish her desires, so He can give her what He has for her. What she cannot see is He is hiding an even BIGGER teddy bear behind His back!

This is such a good illustration of how we are with God sometimes.  We truly want all He has for us, but aren’t quite ready to give up that little teddy bear. This week in my reading I thought about all that teddy bear represents: sin in our lives, the ways of this world, time spent on everything but Him, worry, control, disobedience, and the list goes on..

In 1 John chapter 2, John teaches us, and the churches of that time, that the desire of a Christian should be to live a life without sin in it.  But that’s not always as easy as it sounds, is it?  I remember in my first days of REALLY trying to follow Jesus, I had a fear of letting certain things go…much like the girl in the picture. I believe I avoided getting to know Him so I wouldn’t have to give up my lifestyle. I even said things like, “I’m sorry, but there will never be a day I don’t insert sin. God is just going to have to understand this is who I am.” As I began a real relationship with Him and truly got to KNOW Him, my desires began to change and my will to want to do the things I thought I would always want to do disappeared. Some desires disappeared instantly, and others took time to purge. One thing was for sure, He was constantly working on who I was going to be. 

1 John 2:4 says “The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and THE truth is not in him.”

One day in the midst of the big changes He was making in me (not to say He isn’t still purging things! And I doubt He will ever be done on this side of Heaven..), it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized the more I sin now, means the more pain he had to go through then, on the cross. Have you ever watched the ‘Passion of the Christ’? I don’t know about you but I had a very hard time getting through it. I covered my eyes and wept. It’s just too hard to watch Jesus endure all of that pain. So the absolute last thing I would ever want to do is add MORE pain to Him.  The Bible says He felt it all. Every bit of everything we would ever do. How could I make that worse knowingly? Especially if I really do KNOW Him. 

That scene is what helps me when I have a weak moment and the enemy tries to bring up old “fun” I used to have. I can see the dead end that it is and how it wasn’t much “fun” at all. I can also see clearly how in the tempting, you somehow never feel the condemnation that he will most definitely pour onto you AFTER he gets his way.

Satan wants us to love the world and the things that are in it. He actually bets on that. If he can get us addicted to material things, experiences, substances, attention, money, fame, sex, this list goes on as well…he can convince us that these are “OUR truths” and then our focus will be on us instead of Jesus. If you pay attention, that’s exactly what the world keeps beating us over the head with, and as of late, it isn’t even subtle anymore. “Live YOUR truth.” “Follow YOUR heart.” “Do what makes YOU happy.” “I was born this way.” 

The Enduring Word commentary did a good job explaining the way God made us:

“God knows we have a fleshly, bodily nature, and physical needs that feel good when satisfied.”

“God knows we have eyes, and that appearance means a lot to us. He made a beautiful world to please us!”

“God knows we have emotional and psychological needs to be wanted and to accomplish things. He made us this way!” 

But

“We should rigorously measure our habits of thinking and see if they follow more the world or God our Father.”

I’m so thankful he sent us The Holy Spirit to help us. I’m incredibly grateful for His Word as a guide. Our culture may change and try to change us, but His Word never changes…and if we are truly His, we won’t waiver either. 

So, how well do YOU know Him?

“You can count on this - the past ended one second ago. From this point onward, you can be clean, filled with His Spirit and used in many different ways for His honor and to His glory.”

-Charles Swindoll, The Living Insights Study Bible