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I remember an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where Ray and Deborah give his parents a thoughtful gift. They loved listening to music on their old record player, so Ray thought getting them something that would make it even better would be good.

A CD player.

But, as time passed and he came back over, he discovered they weren’t using it.

Why not?

It was too new, too different, too complicated. They couldn’t truly understand how it worked, so they stayed with the old, comfortable way. They couldn’t take that step.

John 3:1-9

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?”

Nicodemus. He was a man, a Pharisee, a seeker, and religious, but he was missing something. And he knew it. He went to Jesus, alone and at dark, to find answers. And Jesus gave Nicodemus everything he was searching for, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

It was too new, different, and difficult for him to move past the old way. He recognized Jesus as a teacher, one who could give understanding, but he could not believe that He was God sent from Heaven. He couldn’t take that step.

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

We face the same decision as Nicodemus – what do you believe about Jesus?

Is He a good teacher, a good man, sent by God? Or is He God Himself, robed in flesh, the One who died and rose again, paying the debt for all of our sins so that we can be forgiven?

Jesus said those who believe in Him would have eternal life. And how do we believe? Is it like Nicodemus thought, that you have to live by every letter of the law? Or is it by Jesus alone?

Ephesians 2:4-9
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

We don’t have to understand it all. We simply have to have the wisdom to believe it.

Do you believe in Jesus? And if you believe, are you following Him? It’s time to take that step.