Daily Verse: 3 John 1:11

“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”

 

Yes, we receive salvation from God through faith alone…it says so in Ephesians 2:8. God extends his mercy through our decided faith in his Son. It’s not something that we can earn or achieve through good behavior. There is not going to be a scale at the end that weighs the good and the bad and then punches our ticket for the appropriate destination. That being said, it might be easy for us to sit back and rest on Ephesians 2:8 and carry on as usual. It might be easy for us to admit that we are hopeful, pitiful sinners, incapable of ridding our lives of sin, clinch that Jesus “card”, and not make any changes in our lives. If that is where we stand, then we need to take a step forward. When Jesus spoke the following words from John 8:11 to the adulterous woman, he was instructing her to put her sinful lives behind here and embrace a life of righteousness…“Go now and leave your life of sin.” He didn’t say “Well, you can’t be perfect so why not just continue on status quo…and by the way, show this ticket with the picture of me on it to God in the end and He will let you through the gates”. No, he told her to make a change…he told her to leave her adulterous ways in the past and step forward as a new person. So if we have to sin to be popular, funny, or liked…we have not left our life of sin behind. If we have to sin to make a dollar or climb the ladder….then we are living in our old self. If we have to step on another person to get what we want in life…then we are still living in evil. If we have to do anything that goes against the will of our Father, then we have not left our old lives of sin and we need to reexamine our path. We need to reconsider our motives and who it is that we really serve in this life. If we discover that we are serving ourselves or this world above the Lord…then we need to call a spade a spade…and make some real changes in our lives. No, we can’t be perfect and our God does not expect perfection. But I am completely convinced that he expects us to make an effort…and I am completely convinced that he knows if we are sincere or just putting on a front. There is no fooling the Lord. So today, may we work to imitate what is good…may we push aside what is evil and refuse to make it a part of our lives…may we leave our old lives of sin, and embrace a new life of righteousness through Christ! To God be the glory!