John, Chapter 12 part 2

What was the world like before Jesus was here? What hope did we have for eternal life? We know the Jews had their system of cleansing and sacrifice that had to be continually repeated, but the Bible says very little about those that are not Jewish. There was no covenant in place for the gentiles as many of us are. John 12 addresses that.

³¹Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. ³²But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." ³³He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. – John 12:31-33

The prince of this world that Jesus mentions is sin. We were all slaves to it, and there was no way to break the bondage of sin without Christ’s promise. It was in his sinless, perfect death that the chains of sin were broken. Jesus saw this from the beginning of His life. The events of this chapter are the culmination of His mission and reason for being.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. – John 12:44-46

I am trying something this week in order to break out of a stagnant funk I have been in. Because of commitments later this summer, I likely have no work for the next eight weeks. God has still provided for me financially, so I am trying to use this time to actively seek His purpose in my life. Today day one of a forty day period (it is 40 weekdays from now until my next big commitment) that I am committing myself to seeking His light instead of the darkness of my life. He is a light, too. Lately, I have struggled in the darkness of my own soul. It has not been a pretty place, either. I know over the next eight weeks there are a lot of major life changes and life decisions that need to be made. The scary part is that I am overwhelmed by them. I have absolutely no idea how the changes can be pulled off, what decisions are going to be made, or how God is going to provide for the changes. I don’t even know where the doors to this new path are, let alone how to open them. All I know is that I have this promise, this power of God’s light, to guide me. Something tells me for now it is enough.