March 5, 2009

Read John 3:16-21

And this is the judgment, 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.—John 3:19-21

John 3:19 confronts us with the fact that we sometimes love darkness. We all do evil. We may congratulate ourselves that we do not have malice in our hearts, but evil can come from other sources such as apathy, indifference, and sloth. And what is more natural than to hide evil when you realize what you have done? Christ warns us that an impulse to hide something we have done is an indication that the act was evil. Our first task is simple: stop doing evil. Christ urges us to do good and come to the light. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, echoes Christ when he makes one of his three rules simply “Do good.” Very simply then, Christ’s message to us is to stop doing evil, and start doing good. Evil has many faces and can be difficult to discern, but at least Christ has given us a clue for finding it. If it is something that you don’t want others to know about, it’s probably something you shouldn’t do.

Heavenly Father, help me to recognize the evil that I do and to cease doing it. Grant me the strength and virtue to do good in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

David Parnell enjoys keeping checked-out library books for as long as possible.