#DailyDevotion Expose Yourself To The Light And To Each Other
Tuesday Easter 2
. 7But 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 cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We have a strange fellowship with one another. People gather around all sorts of similarities and purposes. Christian have fellowship in this, we are sinners. More than that we confess our iniquities, our fallings of keeping God’s law, our iniquities and trespasses to each other and we are not ashamed. We are not ashamed because we bring these things into the light of God. We do not like Adam try to hide them from God. Instead we bring them out and show them to God so that his light can remove them from us.
Walking in the light is confessing our sins and our sinfulness. It is admitting we have failed and we need a savior, a redeemer. When we do not hide our sins, the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we try to hide our sins and do not humble ourselves before God and one another, his cleansing light cannot do its work.
But we have this promise, if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Probably one of the worse things that has ever happened in the Church is Christians no longer going to their pastor and confessing their sins, in particular but only in general. We hide them from him, one another and we think, sometimes even God. We fear what people will think of us, what the pastor will think of us, and what God will think of us if we really expose to them the ugliness of our sins. To tell you the truth, there is a possibility the person we are talking to isn’t really a Christian or a very good Christian and they will be shocked or think less of you when you expose your sin. But Jesus and your heavenly Father will never be shocked or think less of you. No, in confessing our general sinfulness and our sins in particular Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. In humbling ourselves God our Father exalts us.
In this fellowship of sin, we also find another point of fellowship in Christ that is love. In the confession of our sins to one another we find acceptance from fellow Christians and we find we are more accepting of them. Our love for one another in Christ is also walking in the light. If we cannot forgive and accept one another we are not walking in the light. Besides forgiving and accepting one another, we sacrifice ourselves for one another. When and where we are able to put ourselves out for the other person, walking in the light entails that also. For Christ sacrificed himself for us we do the same for each other.
Heavenly Father, grant us faith to confess our sins to each other, to sacrifice our needs for the needs our brother so that we may walk in the light of your Son Jesus Christ. In his precious name we pray. Amen.