2 John

Be Still: Lord, help me not become overly familiar with your word, may it be fresh to me today.

Read: 2 John
‘I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.’ (v5)

Encounter: I like new things. It’s a new year brimming with new prospects and possibilities. Society loves to pair 'new and improved', making ‘new’ synonymous with ‘better.’ As a result, I often find myself dissatisfied with the old and hungry for something new.

Yesterday, we closed the book of 1 John, and today, we turn to a new one: 2 John. I was excited about the new revelation it might contain. So, I was admittedly disappointed when I read, ’I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning: Love one another’.

John, living in a largely illiterate age, went to the effort of putting quill to papyrus—not to deliver some ground-breaking new insight, but to reiterate an old command: Love one another.

At first, this felt anticlimactic and then I remembered something a Bible college tutor told me: ’When studying God’s word don’t look for something new, look for something true - for the truth is what sets us free. Besides, if it’s brand new, it probably isn’t true.’

John’s reminder is profound in its simplicity. The command to love one another may not be new, but it’s enduring, essential, and deeply challenging. John knew we may forget the most foundational truths in our pursuit of novelty. Love one another is the core of our faith, the heartbeat of God, and yet we need to hear it repeatedly because it’s not easy to live out.

As we enter 2025, John’s ‘old’ command is exactly what we need - a reminder of the timeless call to love others as Christ has loved us. With the assurance that as we obey the old command, he will come good on his promise to make all things new.

Apply: Ask God to tame your appetite for new and to show you any old words you have neglected to heed. 

Devote: Holy Spirit, help me love well.