Walk this way

III John 2-5: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers . . .”

For us our greatest testimony to others and to our selves is what others say about our walk with Jesus. If you were to ask me about what kind of man I was, I of course would probably say I am a good guy. However, that information would be a little skewed, because I am pretty partial to myself. The real test of what kind of man I am is what those closest to me say about me. If you really want to know, what kind of Christ-follower I am you could ask my wife, or my family (except my mother, because she is also partial). They have seen the real me; the good, the bad, and the ugly. They can tell you every little quirk that I have. They can also tell you how I react to situations, and if I really believe the things that I preach.

Gaius was a man who walked his talk. He was a church member that put shoe leather to his theology and reached out to people with the love of Christ. The most important thing about how he behaved in his everyday walk was that people were watching the way he lived out his Christianity. He was walking in the love that was implanted in him by the Holy Spirit, and people were talking. The hospitality that he showed inspired John to write this letter of encouragement. John was not only sending a word of encouragement, however, he was also encouraged because one of his “children” was walking in the truth.

For Christ-followers today, we need to be walking in the same truth that Gaius followed. John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” They walked in the truth of God’s word. Our culture is trying to pervert the word of God by giving way for sin and false teaching to be preached under the title of “Christianity”. We cannot afford to be swept up in the politically correctness of the deceptiveness of this modern culture. When we fail to follow the whole council of the word, we fail in all our endeavors. We have a responsibility to walk in truth. How can we understand the depth and breadth of the love of Christ and the need of that love in this dark world, if we do not look on the sin that is written in the Bible as a serious offence to God? Sin that was written thousands of years ago is still sin in God’s eyes. Just because our culture today says a certain behavior is not sin, does not mean that it is still not filthy in God’s eyes. How can we preach the extreme love that Jesus died on a cross for, if we cheapen that sacrificial act? Our walk needs to match our talk, and our character needs to show the work of Jesus in our lives.

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: Hosea 1-4 New Testament Jude 1