1 John 2:25-29

"And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him." 1 John 2:25-29 NIV


This passage of scripture starts out with a most wonderful promise. The promise God has made to us of eternal life.

Usually when I think of eternal life I think about the life I will have in heaven once my earthly body dies. However, in reality, our eternal life begins from the moment we profess our faith. The moment we accept God into our lives. If this is the case, doesn't it make sense that we would want to begin living that eternal life that very same moment? That we would want immediately to begin living out our eternal life with God by diving into His Word? By building daily our relationship with God?

I know of many benefits that come with fully living day to day with God -- benefits that come with ABIDING in God. However, there are several to which John speaks specifically in these scriptures.

The first being that we will be taught the truth.

"And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie..."

If we abide in God and receive his anointing (anointing being the presence of God's spirit with us), we will see the truth. God's spirit will show us the truth. It guides us towards the truth.

Another reason to always abide in God? So that we will not be ashamed when He returns.

"..so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming..."

I don't want to shrink away from God or be embarassed when I stand face to face with Him one day. I want to be ready for his coming at ANY time. No matter the day or night. Unfortunately, I think I have too many days where I would shrink away in His presence. I do, however, seek for this to be different and pray that one day I will be at a point in my relationship with God that I would be fully ready for His coming. That I would have confidence when I am face to face with Him.

In the last verse of this passage John speaks of being born of God. While studying these passages in the online commentary that I use, I found an analogy of this that really gave me a great picture of what it means to be born in Christ.

As children of our earthly parents we each have physical features that tie us to them or other family members. In my children they each have blue eyes like I do, my son has thick dark hair that is just like mine, my daughter's hair is just like her daddy's, both of them have a little dimple on their chin that is exactly like their daddy's, and, just like both my husband and myself, neither of them will ever be very tall.

It is the same when we are abiding in God. When we have a strong relationship with God our lives will show similarities to God. We will love others unconditionally, we will have a heart for giving, we will seek out ways to further the kingdom of God, and so on. Others will be able to see God in our lives.

That is what I seek. I seek to abide so closely with God that others would very clearly see Him in my life each and everyday. It's a daily thing... I must work on it and spend time with God each and everyday.

Truthfully, do I succeed at this everyday? Not at this point in my life. However, I spend more time with God and in His Word that I did even 6 months ago. I think that as long as I strive for that "everyday with God" time and it is a true and heartfelt desire, then one day I will obtain it. God will honor the fact that I am seeking to grow our relationship and He will help that desire to build in me more and more.

As Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." God will take these things on which we honestly and purely seek and He will honor them. He will help us to obtain these desires of our heart.