Hey, You!

 

 

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.   This is how we know it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth."  I John 2:18-20

 

People's lack of loyalty blows my mind sometimes.  They are on your side as long as you do everything like they want you to; if not, they move on and never look back.  If their ball team loses a few games, they change teams. It is hard to understand how people can run from hot to cold so quickly.  This just shows how fickle emotions can be.

In the passage yesterday, it referred to the antichrists, or false teachers, that were spreading things that were not in keeping with the truth.  Today's verses goes on to explain that these false teachers had actually associated with the true church.  But somewhere along the way, they departed from strict adherence to the teachings of the apostles and the Old Testament.  They were not staying within the teachings of Jesus, which was the pattern for the new testament church.  The fact that they went "rogue" proves that they were not really a part of the true church.  We get in trouble when we think we can strike out on our own, not needing the accountability of church.  We fall prey to the enemy when we begin to exalt our own thoughts above the truth of the Bible or of those with more knowledge and experience  in the faith than we have yet experienced.

But I love what John says next, "but you have an anointing from the Holy One."  In other words, enough said about them, you move on, you walk in what you know, you remember the anointing that rests on you and you stay in the truth that you have learned.  We are to care about others; we are to grieve when people wander from the fold.  But at the end of the day, we have to be true to God all by ourselves.  We stand alone before him and cannot allow other people to change our course.  Do not be moved from what you know you are to do, just because no one else will do it with you. Sometimes we are called to stand alone.  But if we are, the anointing arrives to give us the supernatural ability to do  it.

Dear Lord, help me to be true to your teaching and never to wander.  Help me be faithful whether anyone else around me is or not. In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri