John is about to lay his pen down. The letter is almost over. Once more he will plea to those, who would read his letter, then and now, to know a relationship with the Son of God is possible, and true, and eternal .

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)

Then, John writes, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. “ (1 John 5: 21)

Boom.
The end.
Wait? What?

It almost seems like an odd way to end, almost an afterthought, but the truth is, THIS is exactly what John has been saying throughout the entire letter.

No one.
Nothing.
No other relationship can take the place of God in your life.

You need this real relationship with the Son of God, and you need it more than anything else in your life!

And (little children, a term John used with great affection) anything you place more emphasis on, anything you run to before you run to Jesus for answers, satisfaction, truth or joy …is just that—an idol.

And before we close the letter and walk on toward the day, patting ourselves on the back for being “idol-free”, we need to back up and check our own hearts.

Now, we may not have any golden calf statues at our house, but our human hearts have a way of turning other things, even good things, into idols.

We may love our comfort, our clean house, the praise of others, our families, our ministries, but if we put those things ahead of our love for the Lord and look to them for our satisfaction, they, too , can become idols.

Let’s prayerfully and routinely ask the Lord to search us.

Let’s remember, if we are putting anything or anyone ahead of Christ, this is an area where we can become vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy.

Watch for it! The evil one will often use that very thing to get us to compromise in our obedience to the Lord in some way.

But as John knew, as we abide in Christ, we will desire to walk away from sin, and be more like Jesus. As we love Christ first, things in this life will fall in their rightful place, and we will be able love others best.

Oh friends, can you believe it! We were made for fellowship with the Son of God ! He is true! He is eternal life!

And absolutely nothing is better than that!

May He continue to do the good work in us to make us more like His precious Son. May we be wise to the evil one. May we love Christ first, so we can love others best, and may those who don’t know Him, want to know Him, because they know us!

What a Savior!! All glory and honor are due Him!

Thanks for studying 1st John with me! It’s been a joy!

read1John

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