Be sure to win: Follow Jesus
Beloved: Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
We can be a culture obsessed with sports. The desire for our favorite team or teams to win is often quite strong. We hate to lose. But sometimes, when we go overboard for our sports teams, I think it is due to not recognizing the ultimate and most important victory: The victory over the world by Jesus Christ.
The apostle John, the Beloved Disciple, whose readings we have been hearing, has a deep and some would say mystical relationship with Jesus. The words he writes are for a struggling Church filled with danger for those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.
For us, these words can be most helpful if we feel lost. No one likes to lose, and the losses we can face in our lives can be difficult indeed. But what we are reminded about in John’s writing is the fact that Jesus has already won. We do not have to worry about losing, because Jesus is the one who always gets the win.
Our culture has, I think, a significant flaw. We can convince ourselves that we always need to be strong. We need never to show weakness. And so when things are not going so well, we try to hide it. We try to pretend and convince ourselves and others that everything will be ok, even when it is not.
The beauty is that we do not need to do this. We have a Savior who has already won the victory. So if we feel broken, or lost, or desperately alone, we can cast our cares on the Lord. In fact, reassuring us, those who believe, is the purpose of what Saint John writes.
I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.
So, as you go through your day today, remind yourself that you are a beloved son and daughter of God. You are worth more than anything, because you are so desperately loved by Jesus. He can heal your brokenness, provide you comfort, and remind you that in all things, you can have confidence in Him because of his victory.
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