Thoughts for another day

February 10, 2012

Today's verse: 3 Jn. 1:11. Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen (discerned or experienced) God [has enjoyed no vision of Him and does not know Him at all]. (Amplified Bible – copyright acknowledged)

(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

In God alone is all goodness. When we get to know Him, the first thing to strike us is His goodness.   It demands in us too, a goodness which hitherto we didn't have.  Therefore, then on we must imitate good and not evil for, if we've truly known Him, how can it be that we imitate what's evil for there's no streak of evil in Him, nor can He bear any notion of evil in His Presence.

When we come before God in sincerity and truth, He changes our character and makes us fresh and new.  This newness translates gradually into a notion of goodness and over a period of time, morphs into the nature we wear.  And when we wear this nature, people come to see us as those who're of God and expect this nature in us.  Although we were crude and dirty before we knew Christ, we become like Him after we know Him, for we become His disciples and His disciples cannot own a character opposite to His.

If we look at people who came in touch with the Master, we see the change that came into their lives.  Zacchaeus is a prime example of a changed man after he encountered Jesus.  His nature changed fast; he realized the values of heaven are superior to the wealth of earth which is why he spoke of distributing his wealth and also making up to them he had cheated.  So too must be our own experience of knowing Christ.  What we were in the past doesn't matter to Him; but what we are now, does.  And if we still don't mend our ways, then it's time to sit down and ask ourselves, who is the one we follow?