Nick at Night
How are you doing in the race of life? Did you start really well and then stumble?
Or perhaps you have not had a great beginning, so you feel like it’s not worth it.
It is.
Nicodemus is an example of this. We all know that he "came to Jesus by night" (John 3). He was a national figure, a celebrity, and he was perhaps afraid to be recognized. Jesus said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?" (verse 10 NKJV).
Yes, he came by night, but at least he came. In the end, Nicodemus turned out to be one of the bravest followers of Christ.
Keep in mind that in everything there must be a beginning. Some have an outwardly "great beginning" with Jesus only to deny Him later. For instance, Judas Iscariot was an apostle, while Nicodemus was still groping his way through the dark spiritually.
Yet at the end of our Lord’s ministry, Judas betrayed Jesus and went and hanged himself, and old Nicodemus stepped forward when all the disciples forsook Him and fled. Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus away from the cross to bury it, "and Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds" (John 19:39 NKJV). There was Nicodemus, the famous religious leader, putting it on the line for Jesus.
So, you may have a feeble beginning but a strong finish. Better that than a strong beginning and no finish (because you gave up and turned back)! Maybe you have fallen in your walk with God. If so, it’s time to get back in the race!
Here’s the bottom line: If you want to go forward as a Christian, you will. God has given us everything we need for spiritual growth and progress. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness" (2 Peter 1:3 NIV).
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