WALK IN HIS FOOTSTEPS: Devotion for Monday January 11, 2016

WALK IN HIS FOOTSTEPS           Monday January 11, 2016

Text: 1 John 2:3 – 6                           Memory verse: v 6

Our profession as Christians is proved true by obedience and proved false by disobedience. John the beloved asserts that true fellowship with God should be evidenced in the life of a Christian by his or her obedience to God’s word (2:3–6) and love for the brothers (2:7–11). Obedience is linked not merely with knowing God but with loving Him. To be perfect in the love of God (2:5), we should appreciate God’s act of love and walk as Christ walked. Our behaviour is one of the observable models for knowing if a person is in or out of God’s light. In 2:6, John used the words ‘live in’ (‘to remain,’ or ‘continue in’) as the equivalent to confessing Jesus to be the Son of God (4:15) and believing in Him (2:24; 3:23–24).

Walking in His footsteps doesn’t mean we can as well do all the miracles He did and die on the cross. No! Rather we are to follow His example of complete obedience to God and loving service to people. Other examples Jesus gave us are; His humility, passion for souls, empathy for the plights and needs of people, zeal for God’s work, etc. How much of these examples are you following today? John expects us to walk just as He walked (2:6).

1 John 2:6 was the basis J. E. Bode wrote the hymn titled, O Jesus I have promised to serve the till the end (Ancient & Modern 331). Stanza 5 says;

O let me see thy footstep and in them plant my own;

My hopes to follow duly, is in thy strength alone.

O guide me call me, draw me, uphold me till the end;

And then in heaven receive me, my Saviour and my friend

The idea of J. E. Bode is that following the footsteps of Jesus demands that we should depend on Him for grace to run this Christian race. We can do this effectively by yielding our lives to Christ and allowing Him to take preeminence over our lives. It is the life of Christ in you that qualifies you to answer a Christian and not the bible in your hand (Acts 11:26).    

Food for Thought: John 13:15.

Prayer: Help me O God, to walk as Christ walked in obedience, service, humility and passion for souls.