Thursday, March 27, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 John 1
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 36
Key Verse
1 John 1:6 — “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”
Devotional Thought
John opens his first epistle not with a greeting but with a testimony. He writes as an eyewitness, one who heard Jesus speak, saw Him with his own eyes, looked upon Him, and touched Him with his hands. This is no secondhand faith. John was the disciple who leaned close at the Last Supper, who stood at the foot of the cross, who ran to the empty tomb. Now, decades later, he declares what he witnessed: the Word of life, eternal life itself, was manifested in the flesh. His purpose in writing is pastoral and tender—that his readers might have fellowship with the apostles, with the Father, and with Jesus Christ, and that their joy might be full.
Then John delivers the message he heard from Jesus Himself: God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. From this flows a series of honest tests. If we claim fellowship with God while walking in darkness, we lie. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. But John will not let us pretend. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The remedy is not denial but confession—and the promise is breathtaking: He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse.
Psalm 36 sets the same truth in poetry. David describes the wicked man who flatters himself until his iniquity is found hateful, who devises mischief upon his bed and does not abhor evil. Yet against that darkness David lifts his eyes to God’s mercy in the heavens, His faithfulness reaching to the clouds, His righteousness like great mountains. In verse 9 he sings, “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” That is the very light John proclaims.
As March draws toward its end and spring light lengthens across our days, we are reminded that light exposes what darkness hides. The temptation is to curate our lives, to present a self that has no need of cleansing. John and David both call us to honesty. Confession is not groveling; it is stepping into the light where forgiveness and fellowship await. The God who is light is also the God whose lovingkindness is excellent, under whose wings we find refuge and drink from the river of His pleasures. Let us walk in that light today.
Reflection
- Is there any area of your life where you are walking in darkness while claiming fellowship with God—and what would it look like to bring it into His light through confession?
- David says the wicked “flattereth himself in his own eyes.” Where might self-flattery be keeping you from seeing your sin clearly and receiving God’s cleansing?
Prayer
Father, You are light, and in You there is no darkness at all. We confess that we have too often walked in shadows while claiming to walk with You. Search us, O God, and know our hearts; try us and know our anxious thoughts. Thank You that Your mercy reaches to the heavens and Your faithfulness to the clouds, that when we confess, You are faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let us drink deeply from the fountain of life. In Your light, let us see light, and let our fellowship with You and with one another be full of joy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 36:1 — “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.”