Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’

And right here, in this opening verse, is the crux of our Christian faith. Jesus was sent by God, brutally killed, so that we could have eternal life. It’s as simple, and as complicated as that. As we bask in the rosy glow of the resurrection, we could spend some time really pondering the magnitude of this.

John 3:16 is probably the most quoted bible verse there is. We see it on billboards, held up on placards at sporting events, tattooed on people’s skin. But have we ever dwelt on what it might actually mean for us: personally, daily?
It seems like a pretty easy decision: believe, and we have eternal life. So why then, do we find the lure of the darkness so powerful that we refuse the greatest gift of all? Why, in all of the thousands of little decisions in the day do we not choose the light? We let envy in, choose to assume the worst of someone instead of the best, turn our gaze away from a sister or brother in need, respond in an unfriendly tone, or gossip. Micro-decisions for the darkness instead of the light. All micro-decisions rejecting the ultimate gift from our God.

So fellow travellers, how about we try a little experiment? We could set a regular alarm on our phones, a little pause button in our day, where we have a quick stocktake of our day thus far and see how we are going with choosing the light in the little moments? Let’s be intentional about the little moments of our day and be people who really do love the light.