This section starts off with the story of Nicodemus, a man who is ready to follow Jesus, but isn't ready for the commitment. So, he goes to talk to Jesus: at night. Wait a minute, Nicodemus could talk to Jesus at anytime because he was near, but he chooses to wait until night time. Why the night? Well, no one would see him or have to know, he could avoid being questioned on it, and he could have this relationship without having his life disrupted.
How many times has this been us? Seemingly going "undercover" to have a relationship with Christ. We want all the benefits, but don't want to pay the price. There's a big point to all of this: being a secret admirer of Jesus costs nothing, but being a true follower always has a high price. So why aren't we willing to pay it?
Most people don't care if Jesus changes the small things in our lives. But that's not quite what he has in mind. Jesus wants to turn our lives upside down, completely remodel it and make it to be as He wants. So why don't we want the God of the universe to change things for us? Perhaps the one thing He wants is the thing we don't want to let go. Maybe our fear of change overtakes our trust in Him. As if we had the one thing that would prove too much for Him! I promise you, nothing that we feel burdened with is too much for God! The truth of the matter is that fans only want to be inspired, but Jesus wants to interfere.
Continuing from yesterday, our measurements to whether or not we are true followers are not the same as His. In John 3:3 Jesus says this: I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. He doesn't want us to just believe, he wants us to follow. Basically, Jesus doesn't just want us at night, he wants us during the day too. He's not waiting for us to say we believe in him, he's waiting to see how we live it out!
Following calls for intentional movement. In the gospels Jesus says "Believe in me" around 5 times. He says "Follow me" about 20 times. Coincidence? You can't separate believing from following. If you do, it turns to nothing. There is no following without belief. That being said, the focus is put too much on the believing side. This is especially true when we try to bring people to Christ.
The truth is following Jesus is a 24/7 commitment that will mess with your life, guaranteed.
There is no forgiveness without repentance.
There is no salvation without surrender.
There is no life without death.
There is no believing without committing.
What do you need to repent, surrender, or let die?
That's all for this post. So ask yourself, will you choose to follow? Will you follow Jesus into the light?
John 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,
so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done
has been done through God.
No comments:
Post a Comment