Several years ago, a young man who had been involved in the drug scene came to our church after getting out of jail. When I asked him if he had any friends in the area, he said that all of his friends had been users, so when he decided to change his ways, they didn’t want anything to do with him. They had remained in the darkness and couldn’t stand it when someone who carried the light of Jesus came and hung out with them.
In the Bible there was a religious leader named Nicodemus who came to Jesus after dark to have a conversation with him. It is likely that he did not want his fellow Pharisees to see him alone with Jesus. They had their own system of rules and regulations set up and didn’t appreciate when Jesus exposed the motivations of their hearts. Part of their conversation went like this:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:16-21)
When all is said and done, the one thing that will save us is belief in Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus claimed to be both the light of the world and the way, the truth and the life. Have you ever noticed that when an evil scene is portrayed in a movie it is almost always in a dark environment. That is because light exposes evil and those in the wrong flee the light. When Jesus came into the world, he came on a mission to save us. He could have easily judged and condemned everyone, but instead He took the punishment meant for us and carried it onto the cross. He gave us a way to eternal life with God by dying and being brought back to life after three days.
Have you believed in Jesus Christ to save you from condemnation? Ask him to come into your life and step into the light of life!
