A "Hard-Knocked Life" (1 John 5:4-6)

Today's scripture: 1 John 5:4-6

“It’s a hard-knocked life” … If you've ever seen the musical Annie, you’ll recall a bunch of little orphan girls being treated like slaves by the horrible Miss Hannigan. The girls scrub and mop and sweep. No fun. No play.

Sometimes I feel like I’m living a “hard-knocked” life. The aches and pains and fatigue of each day often make every task, every movement, an effort.

And then I look at this world and all its suffering and tragedies, and “hard-knocked” seems a great understatement. I’ve written this before, but it definitely feels—as the perversion and corruption increase—this world is winding down. And it often feels like the enemy is winning.

But no. Not at all.

We know Jesus will one day return and overcome the world. But John tells us something in this verse that should give us hope for today. We who are born of God already overcome the world with our faith.

Think about it. If we don’t allow the worries of this world to take us down, if we’re able to stand firm in the midst of pain, if we smile through the tears, we’re overcoming the world. And when others watch us overcoming, they may very well ask how we can have joy.

And our answer is so easy. It’s because the “Spirit of truth” is in us. We know this life is temporary and one day—I think it’s sooner than ever—we’ll be in heaven with our Lord and Savior. No pain. No sorrow. No tears.

No “hard-knocked” life.