Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Family-Space for Faith Formation
I John 2: 7-17

Navitha Thomas

W/O Rev. Jogy Oommen Philip
Detroit  MTC, Detroit

17 And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
I remember in my younger days, we had our family prayer before dinner was served. It always started with two to three songs and then there would be a ten-minute catching up time where we kids and our parents would share how our day went at school or at work place. It was the time when each person’s experiences would be restated from the other’s perspective. This would be followed by Bible reading, prayer and reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

I remember that, as in most homes, our day-to-day stories included experiences of success, failure, joy, disappointment, and so on. Being able to share these as a family and to see it in the light of the Word of God or through a faith perspective greatly strengthened our bond with each other in the family and with God.
The First book of John is all about the Love of God and how our response should be. John does not say that God is very loving, but that God is Love. Reciprocating appropriately by loving the unseen God and loving our fellow human beings around us, is what we are called to do.
Verse 17 specifically challenges us to examine our priorities. It calls into question what we are investing in or counting on. It is also a reminder that if it is only the world and its luxuries that we are after, it will all pass away and ultimately only doing the will of God matters.
Knowing the will of God and doing the will of God are not the same. We need to know, in order to do. But just knowing is not sufficient. Our creator God, did send His only begotten son as an ultimate expression of His Love for us, to help us know the will of God. Jesus did the will of God even up to death on the cross and helped us to know God's will, through His teachings, life, passion, death, resurrection and ascension.
Verses 9-11 remind us that, if we claim to love God, we can’t be self-centered, because as long as we are self-seeking, we are in darkness. Our calling, however is to live in the light, which can be fulfilled only by leading a life of love, by literally caring for the people around us and thereby doing the will of God.

PRAYER

Father of all, our God of Peace,
We look to You alone;
Come with Your precious gift of love
And make our house Your home. - Ken Bible

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“A family that prays together stays together” – Mother Theresa

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