Three-in-One: The Relational Godნიმუში

God's Fellowship (14)

Final Words, Final Warning

In this last chapter, John circles back to his main themes:

• faith
• love
• obedience
• trust
• victory
• fellowship

He ties them all together, showing how each one relates to the other.

And then he does something unexpected. Instead of ending with a grand and glorious statement about love, a main theme of the whole book, he gives a warning:

Dear children, keep away from idols.

Or more directly:

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.

It feels harsh and abrupt after all the talk about love and light and faith, doesn’t it? But maybe John knew enough about human nature to know that even the most loving and obedient Christian is always in danger of loving and obeying something or someone other than God.

Reflect

• What things have taken God’s place in your heart? How can you protect yourself from those things and keep God front and center in your heart?
• What do you learn about God in these verses? (When Paul writes "God" he almost always means the Father.)
• What do you learn about Jesus in these verses? (When Paul writes "Lord" he almost always means Jesus).
• What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in these verses?
• What do you learn about humanity and yourself in these verses?