...pitch your tent in Christ...

“1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God.  10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters” 1 John 3:1-10.

I love the opening words of John, here in chapter 3, words of urging his readers to recognize the greatness of the love of God: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us (verse 1).” Dear friends, I think a solid argument could be made that there nothing more important in life than to recognize the greatness of God’s love! And as John then says in verse 2, “… when God is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.”

And then John finishes this brief, but most powerful, introduction to chapter 3, with a plea to put our hope in God: “…all who have this hope in Him (God) purify themselves, just as He (God) is pure.”

But it is verse 6 that makes my heart bleed with hope and with love: “6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him” (verse 6). The Hebrew word, “to abide in”, literally means “to pitch your tent in” — a vivid metaphor for the kind of love and relationship Jesus is calling us to live out in our lives.   For if you pitch the tent of your heart and life in Jesus, and you allow the Words of Jesus to pitch their tent in you, you will not be deceived by Satan and his friends (verse 7).   And if you are born of God, God’s seed will abide in you; you cannot sin, because you have been born of God” (verse 9).  

This is an incredible promise and this is our incredible hope. So let us pray for one another that we will be born of God, that we will pitch the tent of our hearts and lives in Him, and in Him Alone.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.