Deeper Reflection
“GOD IS LIGHT” (V.5), AND SO, GOD’S CHILDREN WALK IN the light. Walking in the light means having “fellowship with God” (v.6) and “fellowship with one another” (v.7). And our fellowship with God and with one another are inseparably intertwined (v.3).When we walk in the light there should be absence of darkness in us; otherwise incongruence, self-deception, self-contradiction, hypocrisy and defilement mark our lives. But still, when we walk in the light, there can be moments of the presence of darkness in us. This is implied in “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” as part of walking in the light (v.7). Walking in the light is a redemptive three-steps forward, two-steps back reality. We still fall into sin; but the light exposes our sins, and enables us to be sensitive to see them in us; and then we immediately bring them to God to seek His forgiveness and cleansing.There is this subtle spiritual danger. What we say we are, is not what we really are in God’s eyes (cf. Prov 16:2). We can “say that we have fellowship with God” and “yet walk in darkness” (v.6). What we say about ourselves is what we think about ourselves. It is critically necessary that what we think about ourselves is honestly true. Then, we will think carefully before we speak and we consciously know exactly what we are saying. Otherwise, we “lie and do not practice the truth” (v.6). And the scariest thing is that we are unaware of that. We need humble, honest reality checks.