Day 4 - Wednesday | Daily Devotions | Connect the Testaments | Morning and Evening: Daily Reading | My Utmost for His Highest | Thoughts for the Quiet Hour |
June 24: It’s Simple Nehemiah 7:66–8:18; 1 John 5:6–12 ; Psalm 110:1–7 I tend to complicate matters. Determined to understand the nuances of a problem, I spend more time constructing a solution than is necessary. Often, delaying a simple solution is my way of avoiding action that requires me to be courageous, intentional, or perhaps admit I’m wrong. John’s first letter addresses a complication of the gospel message. False teachers were causing division in the community by spreading incorrect doctrines about Christ’s humanity and divinity. Without understanding that Christ is both man and God, some in the community risked diminishing Christ’s saving work and confusing the gospel. John spends the greater part of the letter guiding his readers through the murky doctrines introduced by the false teachers. However, John’s climactic point at the close of his letter is far from complex. First John 5:11–12 contains a statement about belief that is both simple and decisive: “And this ...