Love The Light

Scripture:  John 3:18-21 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” (John 3:18–21 NLT)

People were doing exactly what Jesus was saying they would do! Remember, this isn’t about God going around selecting some people for judgment and others for approval. This is about people actually sorting themselves into “judgment” or “approval” by the very way they responded to him. Remember that Jesus is the light that came into the world to dispel the darkness and show the way of life!

There were a lot of people who hated what Jesus was saying and doing and refused to let the truth of his message touch their hearts. Those who didn’t want to change, didn’t want their hearts exposed to the truth hated Jesus—they hated the light. And there were a lot of people who loved Jesus and his message. They followed him to hear more, to see more, and to respond to his always challenging message of heart change and hope for new life.

The very religious people, those who considered themselves righteous by their law-keeping, their moral supremacy to others, their exclusion of people who were not of their group and who didn’t measure up to their standards, were mostly the ones who rejected Jesus. They hated his message of heart-change and his disruption of their system. It was to a large degree, the unreligious, and the irreligious, who flocked to him, responded to the truth, repented (changed their minds), and loved him and his message of hope for the hopeless, inclusion for the outcast, and welcome into God’s coming Kingdom. They knew their lives were messy, they were dissatisfied, not self-satisfied, and they welcomed the grace to change.

Prayer:

Father, Please shine your light on me and my friends who are reading this. Show us where we’ve got it right so we can keep getting it right. Show us where we’ve got it wrong so we can change and get it right. We love the light of Jesus! Change us on the inside, Father. May we walk only in the light of your love and truth! Amen!