1 John 1:1-3

As I was reading this morning I came across three verses in First John that were so jam-packed full of stuff I had to slow down and read it again in sections.

1That which was from the beginning,

The beginning?  To me that means before our world was created.  A God that was around long before the earth came into being.  A God who created a tremendous and incalculable universe full of so many wonderful and ferocious things.  A universe that is so vast that, as of right now, we can only peak through a pinhole at it and we still feel small in comparison.  There is so much out there and God 'that which was from the beginning' has created it all.

which we have heard, 

So often we find ourselves, or at least I do, wondering why we can't hear God's audible voice as if we were just having a phone conversation.  I mean, seriously, how easy would that make it... "Hey God, so can you please give me some advice here?  I'm not sure what I should do."  I know that I have fallen victim to wanting a vocal audible voice, but I quickly forget that God doesn't always speak to us audibly; but that doesn't mean that we can't still hear Him clear as day.  It has been so amazing to be able to 'hear' God speak to me through gut feelings, thought processes, songs, billboards, others, and most of all His Word.  So even when we don't physically hear an audible voice, it doesn't mean we need spiritual hearing aids.  It may mean we just need to tune our radio to a different frequency to be able to pick up our God channel more clearly through other means.

which we have seen with our eyes, 

How blessed we are to have the ability to see.  I thank God everyday for such a wonderful blessing.  I love to go on walks or even just sit on the back porch and marvel at God's beautiful masterpieces He creates for us, just because He can.  I mean think about it, He continually paints us a new pictures in the sky every few minutes.  He doesn't have to, He could leave it looking grey and dark all of the time, but instead He decided to provide breathtaking colors and clouds.  Or think about the people you pass each day, how different each person is, how much thought goes into the creating of each individual.   Or what a blessing it is to see God at work in someone else's life.  God is always at work around us everyday, it is just a matter of seeking out our great Physician to get the right prescription for our glasses to be able to see clearly.

which we looked up on and have touched with our hands, 

I think that it is so amazing that a spiritual God would provide for us tangible things in order to show us His majesty and grace.  He knows the ways in which our brains are hardwired, well after all He created them that way.  But in order to learn we are first tactile.  Think of babies, they touch everything they can get their hands on in order to figure out what they are.  Being God's children, He provides ways for us to learn and grow spiritually through physical touch in the world around us.  How BIG is our God?!?!

concerning the word of life--2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, 

Personally I used to think that every time I read or heard the phrase 'word of life' it was referring to Jesus as a person.  Today, I think this is correct to some extent, but I have more recently come to realize how everything around us is "God breathed".  Think about it, in order to speak a word, breathing is necessary for us.  But God, being an all powerful God, has the ability to speak without words; therefore, just the ability to breath, when God is concerned, can bring life to something.  God's word tells us how powerful His breath is.  In Genesis chapter two we learn that from dust God breathed into Adam's nostrils the "breath of life, and the man became a living being."  And in Second Timothy chapter three we come to understand that "all scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."  God has a breath that produces life, not only in us but more importantly in His son Jesus Christ who came to earth, and that life, His life, we have been blessed enough to be able to see.

and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us--3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ.

Everything we have heard, seen and touched we need to share with others.  Some people are so blind to everything that does not happen right in their personal bubble.  By us sharing with others the wonderful blessings and intimate moments from and with our Creator, it may help them to see past their bubble at a world full of wonders that God has provided.  When they begin to peer into that world they will soon realize that there is something different about us, the way we carry ourselves, the way we talk, the way we live our lives, the way we see things.  And those things may just get them to question what it is we have that they don't.  This is the best blessing of all, the ability to be able to share with others around us the wonderful relationship that Jesus longs for with each of us.

So the real question becomes... "Will you pop your own personal bubble and reach out to others around you by telling them what you have heard, seen and touched in order to share with them the amazing relationship you have with Jesus Christ?"