Fellowship

Since I have had so much free time lately, I have been studying in 1 John.  1 John is my most favorite writing in the Bible.  In particular, one passage:

“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

My first exposure to this passage was about 1971, at my mother’s church in Colorado.  Since I was forced to go, I joined the youth choir – not because I could sing but because it got her off my back.  Besides, I was sweet on one of the girls.  The choir director decided to sign us up in a contest with other local youth groups.

The song had a good tempo, the words were easy enough to remember and we did go on to take first place in Colorado.  However, the words were rather meaningless to me - I was still an atheist.

“If we walk in the light”  Heck I lived in Colorado, you went out of your way to get to shade – unless you liked hot sidewalks and burning!  Dutchman visited me one year and in three hours was covered in blisters!  That high altitude sun can be very unforgiving.

But I missed the point of the passage, I was thinking literally rather than figuratively.  In the first century Hebrew culture, light and truth were equated with one another. 

So, if I walk in the light (Truth), as He (Jesus) is in the light (Truth) we have fellowship with one another.  We have fellowship because we have commonality in the Spirit and we have commonality in the Truth of Jesus as the Christ.

I have marveled in this day and age of virtual friendships and fellowships at this commonality.  I have met many whom I interact with on a regular basis, probably more than I do with those in my local church!