Fellowship

What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.—1 John 1:3 NASB

John experienced a fundamental fact: God desires fellowship with His people. But He also desires that we have fellowship with other believers.

This helps us understand John’s message about light and darkness. Darkness doesn’t just pollute our minds and hearts. It poisons our character and prevents us from having a relationship with God. It even contaminates our relationships with other believers.

If we want to fellowship with the Father, we can’t walk in darkness because “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (v. 5). Walking in the light means allowing Him to penetrate our hearts and minds, to expose actions and attitudes that are displeasing to Him and harm us.

Walking in the light is central to having fellowship with God and other believers: “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another” (v. 7). It means realizing we have been cleansed from sin.

As believers, we need to realize that God seeks to fellowship with us. But for this fellowship to take place He needs to discipline, correct, and refine us (Hebrews 12:4–11). This means walking in the light, ever alert to the threat of darkness.

Today, ask God to help you be alert to the threat of darkness. Practice walking in the light. Always seeking to fellowship with Him. Have a life that is pleasing to Him.

Reflection Question: How do you respond to God’s discipline?