Since we won’t be meeting Tuesday nights over break, I’ll be posting some short devos each day. Take some time, read them, think about the questions, and pray.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” – 1 John 1:1-4, NIV
Seen with their own eyes. Touched with their own hands. This Jesus was no myth – He really lived among them. He was real flesh and blood. But He was also more than that. He was God in the flesh, both fully God and fully man. He came to give eternal life, a life that starts when one follow Jesus. John makes it pretty clear that they have had (and continue to have) fellowship with Jesus.
Giving your life to following Jesus and having fellowship with Him is important. But part of following Jesus is having fellowship with other believers. There is no magical formula, no list of questions you’ve got to answer when you get together, no script you’ve got to recite. Just live your life authentically with other believers around what unites us.
What does it mean to live authentically? In Mark 12, Jesus says that the greatest command is to love God with everything and to love others as you love yourself. I’d say that’s a pretty good place to start.
As you start your Christmas break, think about the friendships you’ve developed and groups you spend time with. Are you attempting “lone-ranger” faith? If so, what needs to change?
Maybe you feel like you’re at the other end of the spectrum. You have enough fellowship with other believers, but not enough with Jesus. What needs to change? How can you use this break to work on it?