I woke up yesterday morning and began my day as usual, but something was different. I felt a conflict in my soul. There has been a man going around the city, claiming to be a prophet, and doing incredible wonders in the lives of those in the city. He even turned water into wine at a wedding earlier.
But my friends and religious brothers proclaim him to be a heretic, a false prophet.
A blasphemer.
I felt torn. I didn't know what to believe.
The miracles I have seen him perform cannot be done unless they are done by someone come from God.
But my people, the Pharisees, the ones with whom I rule, they condemn him who claims to be the Son of God.
I had to see him, to speak with him, but I couldn't be seen by the others. I decided to go to him in the night.
I approached him last night, and I 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." (John 3:2).
This man, Jesus, said to me that I must be born again. Not physically, but I must be born of the Spirit of God.
I asked how this could possibly be, and what he said I will always remember:
"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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 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." John 3:16-18
He told me last night that I must believe in the Son of God, who he himself claims to be, and that he was sent by God to save our souls.
And you know what?
I believe him.
He is the Son of God.
This morning I woke up. But something was very different.
I felt alive. Set free. Redeemed. I feel as if the Spirit of God is alive in me.
My life is changed. I am still Nicodemus, but I am a new man.
Now this is in way a historically accurate account. This story is meant to prove a point, to recapture the amazing story of the Gospel. We have more in common with Nicodemus and other biblical characters than we think. We all started out or still start out our days dead in our sins, and a life-changing encounter with Christ has the power to make us alive again, and we can wake up every morning after new creations. Don't let the world keep you from approaching Christ where you are at. Nicodemus didn't, and I promise it will change your life.
It changed mine.
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