Chapter 2 of 2 Samuel finds David realizing that his life had just radically changed. He had been anointed king years ago while the reigning king, Saul, was still living. Saul had hunted and tried to kill David many times, but David refused to strike Saul, even when the opportunity presented itself. But now, Saul was dead, and David was left asking, “What now?” Verse 1 of chapter 2 tells us that he “inquired of the Lord,” setting us a beautiful example.
The state of not knowing where to go next can take the form of dramatic circumstance, as it did for David, but sometimes it is just the understanding that a chapter has come to an end. The voice of wisdom reminds us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), and that to “prove what the will of God is,” we must be no longer “conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]” (Romans 12:2). In 1 John 1:5-10, we are told how to begin to foster a close relationship with the Lord. We have to first acknowledge that He is the Lord, and that He is the source of all truth. As such, we must necessarily walk in the light, or in truth, to have the fellowship with Him. Because of the work of salvation from our sin that was accomplished by the sinless life, substitutionary death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can be forgiven and walk with God in the light, as He is in the light. If we deny our sin (and He defines sin, not us), then we have no fellowship with Him because we have departed from the truth.
If you are not in the light as you should be today, verse 9 of 1 John chapter 1 teaches us how to begin. Many become discouraged, thinking that the Lord demands that we attain righteousness on our own, or else He will have nothing to do with us. That is a lie meant to keep you from knowing Him. The very essence of Jesus’ work was to bring heaven to us, and to redeem us from our helpless and hopeless state. Hebrews 9:11-12 are some of my favorite verses in Scripture. They read: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, he entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Nothing can separate those who walk in the light with the Lord from His love (Romans 8:38-39). So, “in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).