December 1

Daniel 8:1-27; 1 John 2:1-17; Psalm 120:1-7; Proverbs 28:25-26

First, I must do a little dance for the first day of December! Yay! Hooray! Hurrah!

Okay, now that that’s out of my system, let’s get started with today.

How are you hanging in there with the visions in Daniel? It’s a lot to take in, with the ram and horns and beasts and goats. And I am not going to try to make sense of all this various visions but rather offer a general insight/idea. Daniel is alarmed and doesn’t know what to make of all these visions; it can be overwhelming for us to try to nail down what each symbol in these visions is supposed to mean.  But I think it boils down to this major point: Behind each great kingdom is another kingdom; powers will come and go and there will always be the “next” great ruler ahead. But our trust isn’t in these powers but rather in God, who sets everything into motion, both completion and destruction. Gabriel tells Daniel that at the end will come the Prince of princes who will destroy, not by human hands, the last great ruler (Dan. 8:25). In the midst of uncertain times, it is all the more important that we remember who is the true ruler of all.

Now on to slightly more cheerful things – don’t you just love this chapter in 1 John? Look at all these gems:

• “He [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2).
• “Whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (vs. 5-6).
• “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (vs. 12).
•  “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (vs. 17).

Really, I could have quoted the whole chapter, but where’s the point in that since you just read it? I love John’s gentle encouragement and the way he states things not to convict, but to convince. Look at this one: “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling” (1 Jn. 2:10). John’s readers probably knew that they didn’t love their brother perfectly, 100% of the time, but John is encouraging them (and also convicting them at the same time) to strive to reflect Christ well in the way they treat each other. It’s so simple and so beautiful and such a good reminder of who we are, too. If we claim to love Jesus, then we ought to walk as he walked. No complicated formula, no unclear burden we have to figure out how to bear. Just plain and simple truth: if we love Jesus, if we abide in him, then our lives should look like his – full of love, compassion and grace.

And how can we do this? Because our own sins have been forgiven, through his name and through his sacrifice. Because we’ve been set free. Because we’ve been covered in his righteousness. Thank you, Jesus!

- Esther McCurry

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