One of the greatest blessings we enjoy as Christians is fellowship with God.  John indicated that it should bring us the highest joy.

1 John 1:3-4 (ESV)
³  That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴  And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Sadly, the majority of people in the world do not have a relationship with God because it has been interrupted by sin.  John went on to say that those who are walking in darkness cannot have fellowship with God.  This agrees with the teaching of Isaiah.

Isaiah 59:1-2 (ESV)
¹  Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; ²  but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

It is no wonder that Paul once called sin “exceedingly sinful” (Romans 7:13).  It is the only thing that can separate man from God.  To be separated from God is to be spiritually dead, a state in which we all existed at one time.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV)
¹  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

The good news is that, as Christians, we have been reconciled to our heavenly Father by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:13, 16 (ESV)
¹³  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ…¹⁶  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

To experience reconciliation with God is to have our friendship with Him restored.  Since the blood of Christ is the only thing that could wash away our sins, and since sin is the thing that separated us from God, Paul said we “have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Think of all we have since we have been reconciled to God.  We now have access to His throne through the wonderful blessing of prayer (Ephesians 2:18).  We have the assurance that He will take care of us with His providential care (Matthew 6:33).  We have confidence that we can conquer the devil, for, as John reminds us, greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Thank God for the blood of Christ.  Without it, we would not have any of these things.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.