"Relationship... Fellowship"

    We may have relationships without relating, or in Biblical terms, we can have relationship without fellowship.

   "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

   Note that the Apostle John, writing to believers, raises uncertainty concerning the matter of our communion with God.  "If we walk in the light… we have fellowship."  That is, we must live in the reality of Truth in order to commune with the Lord who declared, "I am… the Truth" (John 14:6).  Or, in the words of the Apostle Paul, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).  Relationship does not assure fellowship, that is, we may be born again through faith in the Lord Jesus without consistently availing ourselves of His living presence and desire to commune with us.

   "The prayer of the upright is His delight" (Proverbs 15:8).

   We tend to think of fellowship with our Heavenly Father in terms of our need.  We do better to begin our contemplation of such glory in terms of His delight.  That is, He loves human hearts to the degree that we elicit joy in the Divine heart when we approach Him in truth and in faith.  God does not need us, existing as a perfectly sufficient being in and of His triune personhood (Acts 17:25).  He does desire us, however, with a love that spans an "eternal purpose in Christ" that included the cross of Calvary to fulfill (Ephesians 3:11).  Indeed, whenever we wonder how much our Father may desire us to walk with Him in loving fellowship, we do well to remember He smote and forsook His eternally beloved Son on the cross in order to make such grace possible - "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?!" (Matthew 27:46).

   Our Lord gave to us relationship with Him when we believed.  "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).  He presently offers to us fellowship.  "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (II Corinthians 13:14).  Imagine, the living God beckons us to walk with Him in this day, indeed, in this moment.  May we do more than imagine as the reality of our relationship draws us into the realization of fellowship with the One for whom our hearts were made, and the One who values our hearts to the degree He gave His cherished Son to the brokenheartedness of Calvary.  How can we possibly refuse so great a gift, purchased at so high a cost?

"Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ."

(I John 1:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

   Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

(Isaiah 55:1)