Friday, March 27, 2026
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 begins his first letter not with an argument but with a testimony. He does not say, “I have heard a report about the Word of life.” He says, “We have heard” it, “we have seen it with our eyes,” “our hands have handled” it. The apostle is describing what it was like to sit beside Jesus, to watch Him break bread, to reach out and touch the risen Christ. Eternal life was not a philosophy to be debated; it was a Person who could be embraced. And John writes it all down for a reason: “that ye also may have fellowship with us,” and “that your joy may be full.” The gospel is not meant to be admired from a distance. It is meant to be shared, and shared joy is complete joy.
But John will not let us hold that fellowship cheaply. “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all,” he insists. If we claim to walk with Him while walking in darkness, “we lie, and do not the truth.” This is not harshness; it is honesty about what light does. Light exposes. You cannot carry a secret sin into the presence of a holy God and pretend it is not there. And so John gives us the remedy, perhaps the most tender verse in all his letter: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession is not groveling. It is stepping into the light where mercy waits.
Psalm 36 paints the same contrast from the other side. David describes the wicked man who “flattereth himself in his own eyes,” who devises mischief “upon his bed,” who has “left off to be wise, and to do good.” Yet against that dark portrait David sets the mercy of God, which is “in the heavens,” and His faithfulness, which “reacheth unto the clouds.” Then comes the verse John surely had in mind: “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” The same light that exposes our sin is the light in which we finally see everything else clearly—ourselves, our neighbor, our God.
It is late March, and in much of the world the ground is still thawing, the first green shoots pushing up through mud that has only just softened. Spring does not arrive by our effort; it comes because the light is returning, and the light does the work. So it is with us. We do not cleanse ourselves by resolving harder. We walk in the light, confess what the light reveals, and trust the blood of Jesus to do what only it can do. That is not a one-time transaction but a daily rhythm—morning by morning, sin named and forgiven, fellowship restored, joy made full.
Reflection
- Is there anything you are currently hiding from God—a sin you have rationalized, a “small” compromise you have kept in the dark—that needs to be brought into the light through honest confession today?
- John says his purpose in writing is that our joy may be full. Does your walk with Christ feel like shared fellowship with the Father and the Son, or has it become a private, joyless duty?
Prayer
Father, You are light, and in You there is no darkness at all. We confess that we have too often walked in shadows, flattering ourselves, calling our sin something smaller than it is. Thank You that Your mercy reaches to the heavens and Your faithfulness to the clouds, and that the blood of Jesus Christ Your Son cleanses us from all sin. Teach us to walk in the light as You are in the light—quick to confess, quick to receive forgiveness, quick to extend it to one another. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light shall we see light. Make our joy full in fellowship with You and with Your Son, we pray. 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.”