Darkness has many benefits. One of the foremost is that it triggers our bodies to emit a chemical that allows us to sleep. Another is the cooling effects during the summer months. Yet another comes at the Christmas holiday season, when we see the decorative lights more brilliantly than during the day.
In John 3:1-21, a man named Nicodemus found another use for the night:
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.’ ”
The passage continues with an in-depth discussion of the scriptures between the ruler and our Lord. What is significant here is that the ruler, a man of high standing in the Jewish world, came to Jesus; and knowing it might bring about extreme retribution if he was discovered, he sought out our Lord at night.
As importantly, Jesus did not rebuke him for his timing. Rather, he focused on the important thing: sharing the truth that was the message of salvation.
John 3:16 tells us the message that takes precedence:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
1 Peter 2:1-12 sets our feet on the path to emulate him:
“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ...”
1 Timothy 2:1-15 says it is salvation that is important, and nothing else:
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…”
1 Corinthians 2:1-16 is our call to be an around-the-clock witness:
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God…”
We cannot afford to restrict our Christian witness to Sunday mornings and outreach weekends. Rather, we must uphold the witness of Christ even under the cover of darkness. If someone comes to us privately, we must be prepared to offer them the truth of Christ, presenting to them our savior and the message of Christ in the same manner.
When the hurting seek the truth of Christ, we must minister to them in the moment of their pain.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.C.14.15.vp.esv