September 16 (1 John 2:1-2)
My dear children, I am writing this to you
so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who
pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly
righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and
not only our sins but the sins of all the world. (NLT)
You will not read anything better today than these
two verses. Absolutely nothing. Take them apart bit by bit and see what I
mean. First, the Bible gives us guidance
so that we will not sin. This itself is
pretty good news, because no matter how smart we think we are, we are not
always going to get things right. Proverbs
14:12 makes clear what our own experience has proven time and again. We may think something is right, but in the
end we are proven wrong, often disastrously so.
Yet even when we know right from wrong, we will
still sin, and when that happens, all is not ruined. We have someone who will plead our case with
God, and that someone is Jesus. Now,
Jesus is not going to say, “Father, cut her some slack. She was just having a bad day.” He won’t say, “Don’t count this sin against
him, Father. His own family acted that
way, and he didn’t have any good role models.”
No, Jesus will go before His Father and ours and say, “This one is one
of mine. This one had a perfect lamb to
cover all sins with its blood, and I was that lamb.”
The other day I was reading those verses and could
not take my eyes off those words. Just
sit with them for a few moments. Don’t
read anything else for a moment and let the incomprehensible, monumental,
reality-changing truth of the gospel of Jesus wash over you and penetrate deep
into your heart and soul and mind. This
is the essence of the Christian faith, my friends, and there is nothing…nothing…even
remotely like it.
O God, when I read the words of Your promise to forgive my sins and when I think of the blood of Jesus that made that possible, my heart is so filled with radiant love from You and for You that I can think of nothing else. My face can do nothing but smile, and my mouth can do nothing but declare Your praise. May the glorious light of my transformed and transforming life point others to You. In the name of Jesus, my Savior, I pray. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 by Steven R. Perkins
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