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Day Seventeen of Advent

Scripture

“This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But 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.”

— 1 John 1:5-7

Devotional

For John, then, the matter is clear. Those who claim to have fellowship with God—to share in God, to be His worshipers—yet fail to accurately resemble and reflect Him are liars. If you resemble and reflect only darkness, then that’s what you truly worship. You are what you seek. The Christian God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Only by walking in the light of this God do we demonstrate the sincerity of our worship.

But over those to whom John writes a shadow looms, threatening to eclipse their loyalty to Jesus. Apparently, some were claiming to have no sin. To deny sin is to deny the Savior. To deny the Savior is to embrace darkness. The light of John’s Gospel exposes this as a counterfeit. Those who truly walk in the light are painfully aware of the darkness in their hearts. For these the blood of Jesus avails to cleanse them from sin and unite them together as God’s true people.

You are what you seek. Where is God’s image distorted in your life? It’s there that you’ll find your heart loyal to a counterfeit. For those who repent and return to the light the blood of Jesus still avails.

Prayer

O God of Light, in You there is no darkness. But in me there is shadow and gloom. Draw me back to the light. Forgive me and purify me in Jesus to resemble and reflect only You. Amen.