This year I’ve been studying the book of 1 John. Through the various stages of Bible study and listening to a sermon series on it, my understanding has been profoundly deepened and strengthened. When I get to the meditation stage of my study, I’ve been practicing writing them out in poem form, so I thought I’d share a couple of them here.

 

On 1 John 2:1-14:

The Slow Battle of Holiness

Holiness –

You call us to holiness.

But You also know

Our weakness and limitations.

 

So you provided rescue

In the form of Your Son,

The perfect substitute

And sacrifice on our behalf.

 

And the only appropriate response

Is obedience and love

To the One who gave it all

So that we could be with Him.

 

He gives assurance

That if we don’t walk with Him,

We are deceiving ourselves

And are not truly His sons.

 

But He also reassures

That He is daily perfecting His love

In those who desperately abide in Him

Though they feel ever so weak.

 

And the more we love Him,

The more His life will pour out of us.

The more we commit to obedience,

The more He makes us like Himself.

 

It might feel slow,

But we can know for sure –

The battle for love and against sin

Is the proof that we are His.

 

No battle – and constant denial

About the life of sin you lead –

Is proof your soul is dead

And you are nowhere near Christ.

 

So let us live lives

Of humble gratitude,

Patient submission,

Loving worship –

And Christ will transform us

More every day

To be like Him.

 

Darkness & Light

Again and again

We’ve heard the commandment

To love one another –

It’s an old refrain.

 

But then Jesus came

And revealed love to us

In startlingly new and

Unprecedented measures –

Fulfilling all that the law

Ever required of us.

 

And as we love and obey

Christ our example,

He lessens the darkness

And strengthens His true light

Shining in us.

 

The absence of this light

Therefore clearly reveals

Those who are not saved

Through their hatred of their brother.

 

Darkness permeates their lives

As their desires are focused inward,

And utter disregard and animosity

Oozes out toward those who should be family.

 

But there is hope

For those who have been redeemed –

No matter how new or old their faith.

 

For those recently saved,

They cling to the truth

Of their salvation.

 

For those mature in their faith,

They cling to the faithfulness

Of a God who’s proved Himself

Over and over.

 

And to those consistently growing,

They cling to the victory

That Christ daily works in them

Over sin and evil and doubt.

 

The light is shining through

In all of us,

And thus we can rest assured –

Christ’s work cannot be defeated

And we are forever His.

 

Photo by Allec Gomes on Unsplash.