It’s so easy for this to happen. The commitment-fade syndrome might be what the apostle John had in mind when he introduced his first of three letters (1, 2 and 3 John) in the opening paragraph of 1 John. He had the best spiritually charged experience of all time: physically walking with Jesus during Jesus’ ministry. He wrote the letter that became 1 John approximately 50 years after being with Jesus. It’s obvious he not only wanted that experience to stay fresh, but he wanted to pass it along to others.
The What
Take a minute to read the introduction to 1 John below. Read carefully from the perspective of John, who wanted to keep His Jesus experience fresh—not only for himself but also for others. Then respond to the questions that follow.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1:1-4).
• What do you see that describes John’s direct contact with Jesus?
• What did John’s experience with Jesus lead Him (and other apostles) to do?
• Why did they want to proclaim what they had seen and heard?
The So What
John wrote of four actions to describe his experience with the Word of life.
• What about you? What four actions might you use to describe your experience with Jesus, the Word of life?
• John shared what his experience with the Word of life caused Him to do. What does your experience cause you to do?
Putting into Practice
John had a firsthand experience with Jesus. He saw Him, touched Him, ministered with Him—and it changed his life. He wrote about this experience to help his readers (including us) have as close to a firsthand experience with Jesus as possible (“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so you also may have fellowship with us.”) so our lives can be changed, as well.
It’s so easy to let the busyness and stress of life dim our experiences with Jesus. What do you need in order to reconnect with your most recent spiritual high point?
How does your experience with Jesus drive you to action? It caused John to want to proclaim. What does it cause you to want to do? Meditate on that question until two or three things come to mind. Write down your answers.
Then, do those things.
This is how we make our commitments stick.
