October 22nd | 1 John 1

When my kids were younger, they were scared to go to sleep in their room by themselves. They were scared of the dark. Their room was fine and safe when the light was on, but when the lights went out, a monster suddenly appeared in the closet, something scuttled under the bed, and many other unknown terrors emerged. My wife and I did what any good parents would do: we said, “There are no monsters, go to bed!” We would turn the lights on, look around, and check while there was light. Then, we would turn the lights off, and the kids would get scared again. 

The solution? A night light. Even a tiny light was enough for them to see that the closet was free of monsters, and it was still dark enough for them to go to sleep. I am amazed that often a small light can illuminate an entire room of darkness. In the book of 1 John, we see that God is light and there is NO darkness in him at all. 

1 John 1:5-6, “5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” 

God is the opposite of my kid’s room at night. He is a full and bright light with absolutely no darkness at all. Often, we think we can come to God, bring a little darkness of sin from our lives, and sit in the same room as God. Think of it as a reverse night light. We walk into the room with God’s holy light and bring in a little bit of darkness and think, “Oh, it’s just a little sin, no big deal.” John makes it clear that it is a huge deal. The smallest amount of darkness prevents us from fellowship with God. If this is true, then we must eradicate sin from our lives. But look at what John says in 1:8,

 “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 

We ARE darkness. We are sinners, and to claim we are anything but sin and darkness is to tell a lie. So if we are darkness and sin, how could we ever have fellowship with God?

1 John 1:9, “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The only way to get out of the darkness and into the light and fellowship of God is to confess our sin and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Confession is hard. We don’t want our darkness brought into the light. But when we bring it into the light, the perfect light of Christ can eradicate the darkness and bring us into fellowship with God. 

Don’t hide your sin anymore. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can keep a little sin and darkness and sit in the light of God. Confess it, bring it to the light, and then you will be healed.