Some
today, and many in our culture, say that it is not possible to know the truth,
because there is no such thing as truth. But then they get upset when their
lives get ruffled by someone else's beliefs. If there is no truth, then your
truth is no truer than anyone else's!
But
there is Truth! You may not like it, but it does exist. We usually don’t like
someone’s version, and that is the rub. We see this in the news as religious
freedom is being attacked in the name of tolerance. It seems as if tolerance
and acceptance only works one direction for some people!
John
tells us that compassion requires that we love our fellow Believers. And when
we do that, we are living the Truth. When our words and our actions match the
Gospel, we are living in the light. And that is how we can KNOW that we belong
to the truth. We can know for certain that Truth exists and that we are living
it.
For
the Gospel to be effective in the world, it must be effective in our lives.
When it is effective in our lives, then we can know our future is secure. The
one hindrance to the Gospel reaching the world is us. When we don’t live the
Gospel by loving each other, we let the World down. They need us to love each
other.
When
we are obedient, we are at rest. When we disobey, our spirits are not at rest.
I like rest. I’m not at rest all the time. There are times when I am not
obeying, just like you. I too must repent. But in those moments when I am
obedient, the rest is nice.
Notice
that John says that we set our hearts at rest. When we love as we are supposed
to love, we can rest in the assurance of obedience. We set our hearts. We put
them in a place of rest. We can be in the very presence of Almighty God and be
at rest. Sin has no hold on us. I His presence there is only righteousness. Our
sin is gone and Jesus’ righteousness takes its place. No shaming secrets will
be exposed.
We
can rest because He laid down His life for us. We can love our brothers and
sisters in Christ without fear. We can be generous and meet people’s needs. Our
words can match our actions.