Did you get any good deals today? The first “Black Friday” I remember was early in our marriage. Melanie and I left her parents home in Temple, Texas to shop in San Marcos. My first bad sign was the line on the freeway to exit at the Outlet Mall. It got worse. In times like this I remember Jesus’ definition of life. “Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Be careful how you use that verse today. If life is not about stacking up more stuff, then what is it?
John redefines life for us. Life is not just eating, drinking, working, playing, buying, consuming and resting. These are characteristics of biological life, to be sure. But life in Christ is more. Whoever has the Son has life. This life from God includes heaven in the future and so much more. Eternal life is not something we will have, but something we already have if we have the Son. Those who do not have the Son of God do not have life, no matter how well they are doing, or how much good they do.
How do we get the Son? By faith. Earlier John tells us that those who believe overcome the world (5:4). Continuing that thought he says those who believe in the Son of God have eternal life as a present possession. How then shall we live? We pray with confidence that God hears and is already giving us everything we need to live for him. In the wide world of bargains, we will never find a better offer than this: eternal life for free. Don’t miss this deal.
