Sunday 14 April 2024

Today is Sunday 14 April, beginning the 3rd week of Eastertide.

IAMSON sings, ‘I Wanna Know’. What would you most like to know about the Lord in a deeper way today?

I wanna know
I wanna know You, Lord
In all Your ways
I wanna know
I wanna know You, Lord
In all Your ways
For to know You is to love You
And to love You is to do what You say
So, in all Your ways
I wanna know You, Lord
I wanna seek
I wanna seek Your face
Day by day
I wanna seek
I wanna seek Your face
Day by day
For to seek You
Is to love You
And to find You
Is to follow Your heart
And be where You are
I wanna seek Your face
Draw me nearer, draw me closer
I just want to know Your ways
And take my heart, and purify it
I just want to know Your ways
For to know You is to love You
And to love You is to do what You say
So, in all Your ways
I wanna know You, Lord

Today’s reading is from the First Letter of St John.

1 John 2:1-6

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him’, but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, ‘I abide in him’, ought to walk just as he walked.

John explains at the start of this passage that he is writing so that those who read or hear it “may not sin”. What’s your initial response to this in the circumstances of your own life at the moment?

John draws a distinction between those who obey God’s commandments, and those who don’t. What do you make of this way of dividing up the world?

Jesus Christ here is described as an advocate for sinners, someone who speaks in their favour. What might Jesus say if he was speaking to his Father about you in this way?

As you hear this passage again, notice what it has to say about God’s love for you, and your love for God.

You might like to take a moment or two to say to God “I abide in you”, as John does here, and then see how the conversation unfolds. Or speak about anything else you’ve noticed in the last few minutes.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.