1/6/14 Monday
"This
is the judgment,
that the Light
has come into the world,
and men loved
the darkness rather
than the Light,
for their deeds
were evil.
20 "For
everyone who does
evil hates
the Light, and does not come
to the Light
for fear that his deeds
will be exposed.
21 "But
he who practices
the truth comes
to the Light,
so that his deeds
may be manifested
as having been wrought
in God."
Almost
everyone is familiar with John 3.16,” For God so loved the world that He sent
His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life.” It is wise to study the
context of all scriptures for failing to do so could mean you miss some
important points. I have watched the truth of this scripture happen many times,
and it often brings great sadness. There are so many we have known who feel the
need to hide what they do or have done. Like rats scrambling to dark holes when
a light switch is turned on these people work hard to not allow others to know
what they do. The saddest part of that is these are often church people, and
some are even pastors. Don’t they know that everything done in darkness will
come to the light? In Luke 12 we find Jesus saying this “ Beware
of the leaven
of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy.
. 2
"But there is nothing
covered up that will not be
revealed, and hidden
that will not be known.
3 "Accordingly,
whatever you have said
in the dark will be heard
in the light,
and what you have whispered
in the inner
rooms will be proclaimed
upon the housetops.”
It
is interesting that Jesus, the Son of God who knows all things and will
ultimately be the judge of us all, speaks of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as
a prelude to announcing that all things will be exposed, that there will be no
secrets. The Pharisees were the religious leaders, the pastors of that day, the
ones who taught and shepherded everyone regarding the things of God. In their
minds they were all that, holy and even exceptionally better than everyone
else. They were proud and with that pride came arrogance. There is a deception
that comes with such self-righteous pride, a deception that blinds such people
to their own heart. Can you imagine this? They had the Son of God walking and
talking in their midst, performing miracles such as had never been heard of
before. But Jesus constantly exposed their hypocrisy, and was a light in the
midst of great darkness so these self-righteous, holy, educated, leaders of the
people in all things Godly, decided to kill God’s Son.
This is nothing new, because almost every prophet that God sent to warn His people that they were living wrong and because of that some bad things would happen if they did not change, was killed, beaten, ridiculed, and rejected. No one likes being told they were wrong, or at least very few people do. Personally I appreciate someone pointing out an issue in my life. This is because my life belongs to God and I understand that everything I do reflects on that. If I am doing something that will cause another to reject God, or despise Christians in general then I want to recognize and change that behavior. For one thing I understand that I will answer to God for every idle word I speak and that if my actions cause someone to turn their back on God then that person’s blood is on my hands.
This is nothing new, because almost every prophet that God sent to warn His people that they were living wrong and because of that some bad things would happen if they did not change, was killed, beaten, ridiculed, and rejected. No one likes being told they were wrong, or at least very few people do. Personally I appreciate someone pointing out an issue in my life. This is because my life belongs to God and I understand that everything I do reflects on that. If I am doing something that will cause another to reject God, or despise Christians in general then I want to recognize and change that behavior. For one thing I understand that I will answer to God for every idle word I speak and that if my actions cause someone to turn their back on God then that person’s blood is on my hands.
But
it is important to look at the last part of Jesus’ words in John 3. “But he who
practices the truth
comes to the Light,
so that his deeds
may be manifested
as having been wrought
in God." This is the
other side of that coin. If you are living a life that you know is good and
correct then there is no shame, and nothing to hide. It is interesting to note
that this person does not come to the light so that everyone can see how good
he is. Nope, that is not a part of the equation at all. It says “So that his
deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God”. There is no pride, no
“look at me” allowed in true righteousness. When all is said and done we should
recognize that even the ability to do good only comes through God’s grace and
for God’s glory. We need to understand that pride is the root of all sin. God
has no pleasure in pride Everyone who is proud
in heart is an abomination to the LORD ; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
Proverbs 16.5
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