We know that everyone born of God does not sin, but the One who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true One. We are in the true One- that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Little children, guard yourselves from idols.     1 John 5:18-21 HCSB

It’s important to go with what we know. The police academy taught us to never make assumptions. We’ve got to stick with what we know to be true. In this Scripture passage, John is explaining what we know. We know these things because they are in God’s Holy Word.

We know that everyone born of God does not sin. But, what about Romans 3:23 which tells us that all sin? When we are truly saved and experience a spiritual rebirth, we don’t want to sin. Hebrews 10:26-27 tells us that if we go on sinning after knowing the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for our sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. If you have been truly saved, you no longer want to sin. This we know.

We know that we are of God and the whole world is under the control of the evil one. Don’t be shocked when you read the headlines and see the evil taking place in this world. We are told in 2 Timothy, chapter 3 that we will face difficult times in the last days. People will practice all forms of sin and evil. We are to avoid such people. But instead in verse 10, we are encouraged to follow the teachings found in God’s holy Word. We are not to focus on the evil around us. We are to focus on Christ and trust Him to deal with it. The Israelites faced some very difficult times due to their disobedience. But, God took care of those who remained focused on Him. We will see the same happening as Jesus’ return draws nearer. God told the Israelites in Isaiah 41:10, not to fear for he was with them, He told them not to be afraid for He was their God. He promised to strengthen them, to help them and to uphold them by His righteous hand. He will do the same for us if we will surrender to Him and trust in Him.

We know that Jesus has come to show us how to live in a way that is pleasing to the Father. We know that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). We are told in Ephesians 5:1 that we are to be imitators of Christ. This means that we are to forgive others as He forgives us (Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:32). When we are saved, we become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are a blood bought child of God. Let that one sink in for a minute. We should live like we know this to be true.

He is the true God and eternal life. If we accept this and truly believe this, we should live like it, act like it and talk like it don’t you think?

Last but not least, if we know all of this to be true, we should guard ourselves from idols. If we are not focused on Christ, the devil has all kinds of distraction techniques. We are in a spiritual battle with the devil every single day. We must suit up for this battle (Ephesians 6:10-18). God provides all the armor we need. But, we must be careful to avoid the devil’s distractions. We are told in 2 Timothy 2:4 that no soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits. We need to stay focused on God. When we do this, he takes care of everything for us (Matthew 6:33).

An idol is anything that distracts us from God. It can be fleshly desires, worldly possessions, anything that keeps you from focusing on God. When we focus on God, we not only make Him happy, but we find that we have peace and joy. We were made to fellowship with Him. We were not made to concern ourselves with all the evil that is going on in the world. Doing what we were not made for just causes chaos and turmoil in our lives.

If you keep your focus on Him, you will find that it makes life much easier. Just go with what you know.

Have a great day!