Jesus Meets Nicodemus
09/14/08 05:27 Filed in: Faith
Faith is not a tendency to act in a certain way under most circumstances, but rather a total, unwavering 24/7 commitment.
“For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” (John 3: 13-17)
John 3:16 is one of the most popular and powerful verses in the Bible, one that has been translated into 1,100 languages. It appears on printed on T-shirts, coffee mugs, plaques, paperweights and banners held high behind the goal posts at football games.
The popularity of the verse stems from the fact that it promises eternal life to those who believe in Jesus. But, the mere profession of faith is not enough to assure salvation. Anybody with $7.00 to spare can don a T-shirt with John 3:16 stenciled on the chest. God’s grace may be free but it does not come so cheaply.
In fact, our salvation came at great cost: the Son of God earned it for us by dying on the cross. The true believer returns that love by making an informed conscious choice to act as Christ would act.
I was reminded of what it can mean to make a total commitment to God when I visited the Cloisters, a branch of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in which medieval religious art, sculpture, tapestries and frescoes are displayed in settings suggesting their original function. The architecture itself includes elements from medieval monasteries, chapels, priories and abbeys so that a visitor can experience what it must have been like to live in a cloister where life centered on silence, meditation, work and sacrifice. Members of each religious community took turns in prayer 24 hours a day. That's total commitment.
Few people today are called to such a contemplative life. But, in the hustle and bustle of daily living, each of us is expected to do as the contemplatives did: find time for prayer, meditation, work and sacrifice for others.
Faith is not a tendency to act in a certain way under most circumstances, but rather a total, unwavering 24/7 commitment.
John 3:16 is one of the most popular and powerful verses in the Bible, one that has been translated into 1,100 languages. It appears on printed on T-shirts, coffee mugs, plaques, paperweights and banners held high behind the goal posts at football games.
The popularity of the verse stems from the fact that it promises eternal life to those who believe in Jesus. But, the mere profession of faith is not enough to assure salvation. Anybody with $7.00 to spare can don a T-shirt with John 3:16 stenciled on the chest. God’s grace may be free but it does not come so cheaply.
In fact, our salvation came at great cost: the Son of God earned it for us by dying on the cross. The true believer returns that love by making an informed conscious choice to act as Christ would act.
I was reminded of what it can mean to make a total commitment to God when I visited the Cloisters, a branch of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in which medieval religious art, sculpture, tapestries and frescoes are displayed in settings suggesting their original function. The architecture itself includes elements from medieval monasteries, chapels, priories and abbeys so that a visitor can experience what it must have been like to live in a cloister where life centered on silence, meditation, work and sacrifice. Members of each religious community took turns in prayer 24 hours a day. That's total commitment.
Few people today are called to such a contemplative life. But, in the hustle and bustle of daily living, each of us is expected to do as the contemplatives did: find time for prayer, meditation, work and sacrifice for others.
Faith is not a tendency to act in a certain way under most circumstances, but rather a total, unwavering 24/7 commitment.
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