Tuesday after the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 20, 2020 by under
Scripture: 1 John 2:1-17 (NKJV)
2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Devotion
St. John teaches us to take sin seriously. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.” Christians fight the sinful flesh’s desires, the world’s wicked influence, and the devil’s fiery darts. We should do all we can to avoid sin. Jesus says in Matthew 5:29-30 to pluck out and cut off the temptation. We avoid sin by recognizing the devil’s fiery darts and immediately removing them from our heart. We cut off temptation with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Yet there are times we fall to temptation. When we do sin, St. John would not have us despair. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is the atoning sacrifice for all the world’s sins. If we sin we’re not to let the sin rule in our conscience, imagining that it’s too big, grievous, or vile to be forgiven. Nor are we to let the sin continue to rule in our body and mind, so that we treasure it, hold hands with it, and use it as an excuse to keep sinning. John points us to Christ, the Advocate who died for our sins and who promises to forgive our sins when we repent and flee to Him for mercy. Thus we take sin seriously, working each day to avoid it. But when we sin, we flee to Christ and take His promise seriously as well.
Prayer: O Almighty and Most Merciful God, of Thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech Thee, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready, both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou wouldst have done; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
