Tuesday within the Octave of the Feast of Pentecost
Posted on May 30, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. John 3:16-21 (NKJV)
3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Devotion
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” ( John 3:17 NKJV)
One objection that we often hear to the Holy Faith is that it isn’t fair. In “the game of life,” so many will “end up eternal losers.” But there is a huge misunderstanding here. When thinking of life as a game, there is the assumption that everyone starts out neither as a winner, nor as a loser, and then we see as the game progresses who gets to win. That’s a bad analogy. In fact, we all start out as losers. Being by nature sinful, and adding our own particular sins thereunto, our default condition is “loser,” condemned already.
Jesus coming into the world didn’t make us any more condemned than we already were. Rather, Jesus came into the world to give us a way out of condemnation. Dear ones in Christ, do not complain to God that He is not being fair. That is the last thing we would ever want God to be! Rather, give Him thanks. For the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus, He has promised to give us way more than “fair.” He gives us forgiveness, and eternal life.
Prayer: O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faithful people, by sending them the light of Thy Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
