My friend John often boldly declares, “It will change your life!” Through the years, “It” has been many things: a music subscription, a restaurant located in a pharmacy (I can’t make this up), a stick-on wallet that attaches to your cell phone. I’ve tried each with various degrees of life-altering success. I will give him credit though; in each case, he speaks from firsthand experience. 

If a friend told me, “Try this. It will change your life!” but he never tried it himself, I’d be skeptical. In 1 John 1, John makes it clear that he had experienced Jesus firsthand, and his life was now dedicated to sharing that with others. The disciples, who had firsthand knowledge of Jesus, thought him compelling enough to tell people, “Hey, you really should meet this guy! We’ve heard him teach. We’ve seen him with our own two eyes. We’ve greeted him—in flesh and blood. He changed our lives, and he will change your life.” At the very least, it would make you consider a meeting. 

The early followers of Jesus did not merely believe in the idea of Jesus or the hope of Jesus. They were believing, following, trusting, and telling other people about their firsthand experience with the reality of Jesus. They encountered him. They saw him. They walked with him. They listened to him. And then they, in turn, told other people about what they had experienced. 

We don’t experience Jesus the same way the disciples did. We don’t shake hands, rub shoulders, high five, or dab with deity, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t met him. It certainly doesn’t mean we don’t know him or that we can’t know him. In fact, by faith, we do know him. Jesus left behind a record of his life in the pages of Scripture, so we could know him. And because we know him, the life that was His is now ours. 

If Jesus has changed your life because of your firsthand encounter with him, tell someone! Let him be the most important “It” experience you share with others.

The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life