Wednesday, November 22
More like Jesus
Scripture: 1 John 3
1 John 3:1–3 (See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children—and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).
Observation
A beautiful parenthetical statement on God’s love for us! Notice:
- God loves us in a BIG way!
- God calls us His children…and we are!
- The best is yet to come! What we will be has yet to be revealed.
- We will be like Him when we see Him as He is.
- This hope is focused on Jesus.
- So we start now becoming more like Him, becoming more pure as He is pure.
Like Father, like son. God calls us His children and we are to become more like our Father day by day. We are to become more pure, more holy, more loving, more like Jesus. John was combatting a heresy that said it didn’t matter how you behaved. All through this chapter, he makes it clear that it does matter. We are to be pure as Jesus is pure (v. 3), righteous as Jesus is righteous (v. 7), love as Jesus has loved (v. 16). More like Jesus—starting now.
Application
My ultimate destiny is to become like Jesus. Am I moving toward Jesus or away? Am I becoming more like Jesus or less? I am a deeply loved child of God. Am I becoming more like my Father? Or less? Each day, I get to choose the direction of my life: toward Jesus or away. More like Jesus or less.
Today, my hope is focused on Jesus—becoming more like Him.
Prayer: Lord, I want to become more like Jesus…today. I know that I’ll be like You when I see You, but I don’t want to wait until then. I want to start being more like Jesus today…and every day.
More: Job 18-19, Luke 22