Thought #3 Rejecting the Medicine

 This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. — John 3.19

Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, a religious leader who, by fear of being seen with Jesus, came to visit Him by night. Jesus used that man’s furtive way of seeking the truth to expose his (and people’s) greatest sin.

The greatest sin is not murder, or adultery, rape, stealing, lying or any other kind of human evil. The greatest sin is unbelief; the rejection of God’s light, because unbelief holds us guilty of all the other sins. Unbelief means rejecting the medicine that heals us from all other sins.

This is the medicine: Jesus said that those who believe in Him are not condemned. Though guilty, they’re acquitted by their faith. However, those who do not believe in Him have already been tried and condemned. Who tried and condemned these people? They themselves did it, by their own choices. They loved wrong rather than right. This is a saddening truth: there are those who love the filth, the devil’s ways rather than the ways of God. They prefer the darkness because it conceals their wrongs. They hate the light because it exposes all the wrong things they do. This is their condemnation. And they will get exactly what they love: darkness. They cannot complain.

Believing is a choice that requires letting go of certain things. Not believing is also a choice and it too requires letting go — but in this case, letting go of the gift that God offers us to hold on to evil deeds.

Putting it into practice: Chose to believe. Love the light rather than the darkness. Let go of the things that separate you from God; they are not worth it.

Has it been difficult for you to let go of the practice of wrong things? What does that say about your faith, given that those who believe in Jesus do not live in the practice of wrong? What if you chose to believe right there and now? What would you have to let go of because of your belief? Leave your comment here.

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