Read 1 John 1:5-9 NIV
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Mornings feel really early sometimes at our house. Our dog’s internal clock needs no reminder from an actual clock or alarm to know when it is time to get up. About 5 minutes before our alarm is set to go off he begins to get restless and he is ready for his morning walk. The problem with Western New York – especially in the fall and winter months – is that his morning walk resembles what a walk at midnight might look like – pitch black. My dad used to refer to that time of day as O’dark thirty. Needless to say, our morning walk usually requires the use of a flashlight. Occasionally I have forgotten to take a flashlight with me and have found myself walking with great caution so as not to land myself knee deep in my pond! Without the light from the flashlight I cannot walk in confidence – in fact, there is a certain amount of fear that I might walk into some sort of danger.
Life can be sort of like that, too. Unless we have the confidence of forgiveness to illuminate our path, we can feel like we are stumbling around in the dark – walking cautiously for fear of unseen dangers. But Christ’s forgiveness, like a light, illuminates and guides us. It offers us a freedom to move and grow that can never happen in the darkness in which our sin traps us. Not seeking and choosing God’s forgiveness is like taking a walk around my pond in the early morning and keeping a flashlight in my pocket turned off. It’s a cautious and fear tinged journey that could land you in some deep water.
But what a difference the light makes! We only have to choose to repent and trust God to lead the way.
