I John 2:28 says, “And now little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
Pepsie was large, as far as dogs go. She was black with curly hair and had a little beard under her chin. (For awhile it was missing because our daughter, Sheri, cut it off.) Pepsie was very obedient—except when she wasn’t. She was a city dog until we moved to the country and she became a farm dog. Riding in the back of the pickup into town was a special treat. I told her not to get out while I went into the auto parts store. When I disappeared, she immediately jumped out and did some window shopping. I came out just in time to see her jump back into the truck—an easy jump for her. She knew she had disobeyed and put her head down between her paws. A verbal discipline was enough.
I like the way John gives his advice to “little children.” Matthew 18:2&3 says, “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and he said, ‘Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” Jesus said this in response to the disciples’ question of who should be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. I wonder if they were ashamed for asking the question. I think John learned a lesson from what Jesus said. He uses the phrase, “little children” at least eight times in this epistle. He ends the letter with, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
Why is it important that we be like little children? It is not that we act childish. There are many characteristics of a child that we need to grow out of. But when it comes to abiding, we can learn a lesson from the child.
Abiding is what our text is all about. We can abide in depression, self-denial, ignorance, or many kinds of addictions or sins. These are all a choice. We can also do some powerfully good abiding—again, our choice. John says it best in his Gospel, chapter 3:18-21. It all comes down to what we will do with Jesus, God’s only begotten Son. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
We have the choice to do evil, or do truth. This determines if we can abide in Him or not. Yes, the Scripture says we are not saved by works (Ephesians 2:9). We are saved by believing. By believing we are not condemned. We have a choice to believe or not to believe. Believing is not a work that we can boast about. John also talks about deeds. If we have good deeds we come to the light so God can see them. If we have evil deeds we hide in the darkness like Adam did (Genesis 3:10).
One day Jesus will come, as our text says. Adam believed God or he wouldn’t have hid. However, he lost the wonderful abiding with Him that he had known. Darkness and death awaited him. He was so ashamed—been there, done that. Praise God, the last Adam, Jesus, came and died for us, that we could once again abide without shame, anxious to show Him our deeds. He’s coming again, ready or not!
