GodReflection: Guardrails for Living
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 1 John 2:28-29
Boom! Another guardrail appears.
To review guardrails put in place by the apostle John here is what I’ve found thus far.
Because Jesus is real Truth he fulfills each and every claim and promise.
To love my siblings verifies my Holy son ship. As an equal of equals I love all Christian siblings since we are all God’s children in Jesus. God wants my complete heart so it is impossible to simultaneously love God and the world.
And, since Jesus embodied human chromosomes and embodies the full measure of the Holy he provides my only way to God. I only deny him at my own peril.
Grounded on these realities John’s fifth guardrail appears to block another dangerous curve where I might easily plummet from my life’s highway.
Outlined in yellow reflectors on the guardrail are the words Honor Right Living.
The reflectors are important. They remind me that right living is only possible to the degree that I reflect from Jesus his image.
Jesus is the only man who has ever walked the surface of the earth who lived right. By letting my heart beat to the rhythm of Jesus’ heart he becomes my gate, my door, my pathway to right living.
I don’t pursue right living to stay in good standing with commands found in my Bible. I want to seek right living because of what the Holy has gifted me and because of divine promises of what I will become.
Right living can never be generated from my own power. Left to my checklist I can’t get through even the most limited amount of time without a misstep. Without Jesus those blunder can’t be rescued.
However, because I submitted myself to Jesus the direction of my life is to honor right living in gratitude to God, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, my blunders receive immediate forgiveness and draw my focus back to him in a plea for more Holy Spirit power for the next time.
Sure, progress is slow. But to honor right living based on the real Jesus changes me step-by-step into his image as I move down my road toward eternity.
The neat thing about the protection provided by this guardrail will be the face-to-face encounter with the Son of God who will return to escort his church to final judgement.
In the face of my eternal life or eternal death moment within arms-length of King Jesus and in face-to-face contact, John describes what is hard for me to believe—but is true—when Jesus appears I will stand confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
Stay tuned.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection on Honor Right Living.
Gary@Godreflection.org www.GodReflection.org
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