What John knows and what John is proclaiming to the people then and to us now is that Jesus is going to return. That we are living in the last days. Every human being will stand in front of Jesus and hear either “Well done good and faithful servant” or “I never knew you; depart from me”.

That has the ability to cause fear if we are honest. John gives us the solution to find confidence and not shame when we meditate on his Second Coming. The solution is what he has been preaching this whole time, to abide in Jesus. To be connected with Jesus is the wellspring of this life. Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. We live an abundant life only when we are connected to Him. We connect with him in prayer and in his Word. So today be freed from the shame by letting go of it all and holding onto Jesus. 

In reference to this passage Charles Spurgeon says this:

“Cling to the Lord Jesus in your feebleness, in your fickleness, in your nothingness; and abidingly take him to be everything in you. ‘The badgers are people who are not mighty, yet they set their house on the rock’ (Probers 20:26); be like them. Abide in the rifts of the Rock of Ages, and let nothing tempt you to leave your stronghold. You are no lion, able to fight your foes and deliver yourself by main strength. You are only a little badger, and you will be wise to hide rather than fight. ‘Little children, remain in him.”