Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death. We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.
1 John 5:12-19

Dear God, this is one of those passages that seems to say whatever I want it to say. Sin and lose your salvation: I can get that from this. Once saved, always saved: I can see that too. What am I to think?

I suppose, when it comes down to it, for myself, as long as I am humbly pursuing you, I don’t need to worry about my “fire insurance.” Of the three possible outcomes for my soul after death—heaven, hell, nothingness—I only need to worry about hell and of the life I’m living isn’t good enough to avoid hell them o don’t think there’s much I could do to avoid it. Even if I believe in the wrong religion and you are the God of Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, etc. I have to believe there is room in your heart for someone who worships you, even in ignorance.

No, when I wake up in the morning and pray to you, the afterlife is not any part of my calculus or motivation. The truth is, I need you today. I need your love. I need your wisdom. I need your grace. I need your peace. I need your Holy Spirit to guide me. I need my daily bread from you. I have felt life as part of you and I have felt life apart from you. Even now, if I ever drift too far away from you and start living on my own, I miss you. I can feel the distance from your Spirit. There’s a part of me that thinks that’s the life to which John is referring that I can lose. Not necessarily eternity with you, but the life you give me while my physical body still functions.

Father, Jesus came to give me life abundantly. Help me to feel that life today as I draw near to you and your Spirit.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen