1 John, Day 7
1 John 5:6 – 21
The book of 1 John closes in a very peculiar manner. Most communications we send end with some sort of encouragement, salutation, or expression of appreciation for the recipient of our correspondence. The book of 1 John closes with the phrase, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” This sounds more like an afterthought than a continuation of the sentiment found in the letter. However, when we remember the overarching theme of the book of 1 John, it makes a little more sense why the author might choose to end the book this way.
David Guzik claims the overarching theme of the book of 1 John is the “abiding life of fellowship” that has been made available to us through Christ.1 There is a theme throughout the closing chapter of 1 John that focuses on the desire John has for us to “know God.” That word means to know God beyond just knowledge and through experience. John talks about how we have the ability to have a real relationship with a real God.
When you think of relationships in your life, how many of them have been impacted because something drew one person away from another? You hear this a lot in marriage relationships. “The love we had for each other isn’t what it was when we were first married.” What typically happens in these relationships is someone’s heart strays from the relationship in pursuit of something else. This “something else” is most likely an idol, something that we worship whether intentional or not. It’s the thing that our heart desires most. So, a couple can get married and the couple can have a great relationship at first until one of their hearts begins to drift towards success in the workplace. Working hard and being successful isn’t a bad thing. However, it can damage all other relationships when it becomes the most important thing or the only thing that matters.
We can experience the same “drifting” in our relationship with a real God when our hearts desire something else over our relationship with Him. Many times, it’s subtle and we aren’t even necessarily aware that we have fallen in love with an idol until we experience the outcome of a life that has drifted from God.
John is encouraging us to guard our heart against idols — the love of self, success, wealth, comfort, relationships, just to name a few. In guarding our heart against drifting towards these idols, we are able to experience for ourselves the fullness of a real relationship with a real God.
Adam
- https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-1Jo/1Jo-5.cfm?a=1164001