Passage Read: 1 John 5 - 2 John 1
Meditation Verse: 1 John 5:19
Thought
We who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh, are children of God. Everyone else in the world, however, is under the control of Satan. So there can be no real meaningful fellowship with unbelievers; they need to hear the Gospel and believe it before we can have meaningful relationship with them. We can buy, sell and go about our business, interacting with them, but if we don't understand and accept that they are under the control of the devil, we will not have compassion to share the Gospel with them. If we think they're fine people, nice and kind, we're less likely to share with them, which condemns these nice people to an eternity in Hell. It also dulls us to the hope of the resurrection and the Kingdom of Christ. "This place isn't so bad, and neither are these people," and so we neither feel an evangelistic responsibility, not a drive to purify our lives.
Application
This whole world is under the control of the devil, that's especially the people, but also the whole place. I cannot find joy or satisfaction in this life or in this place. My hope needs to be fully in the return of Christ and His eternal Kingdom. And recognizing that Christ is coming to judge the nations and they are in the grip of the devil should compel me to seek to deliver as many as I can. My purpose in life shouldn't be to enjoy all I can of this world and the life I have here, but to proclaim the Gospel so as to save as many people as possible from eternal condemnation. There's certainly plenty to appreciate as I go, but I don't want to be deadened to the reality of the doomed people walking around me, doomed without the Gospel of Jesus Christ.