I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
This is another very short letter from someone who followed the disciple John. It focuses on three church leaders, two of whom are truly following God’s way. The third “likes to put himself first”, not so Christ-like.
This letter is written to one of the followers, and extolls the virtues of hospitality by writing, “Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you”. I love how this effectively says that there are friends who are strangers. I want to live like that.
The accompanying reflection is from Richard Foster and focuses more on what it means to be walking in the truth. He relays a story about the desert fathers (and mothers), who retreated into the desert precisely to figure out how to walk in the truth. At the time of the desert fathers and mothers, the world was asking “how can I get more”, and they asked “what can I do without”. The world asked “How can I find myself” and they asked “how can I lose myself”. The world asked “How can I win friends and influence people” and they asked “how can I love God”.
He writes further that the Anthony, one of the desert fathers sold his belongings and gave away property and retreated to the desert for 20 years of solitude. He was forced to first face and then strip away all of the worldly garbage that got between him and loving God. When he eventually emerged, he was marked with “graciousness, love, kindness, endurance, meekness, freedom from anger, and the practice of prayer.”
I believe there is great wisdom in this notion that’s thousands of years old. We need to strip away the things of the world that distract us from our truest calling – love God and love Neighbor.
This morning, I’m thinking about what I can prune from my life to provide space for me to walk in God’s truth.
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