1 Peter 2:24

Devotional Thoughts

By David Wilkerson

Jesus said he came to seek out and save the lost. This was the same One who had power to subdue the very winds and waves, yet he came as a humble servant. The gospels tell us he listened patiently to people’s heartbreaking cries. Multitudes pleaded with Christ to deliver them from their afflictions and he met their needs. He healed the sick, opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, loosed tied tongues, and made cripples to walk. Jesus set captives free from every form of bondage — he even raised the dead.

No one ever loved humankind more than Jesus; he grieved over the multitudes before him, seeing them as lost sheep in need of a shepherd. The truth is, nobody in history should be more revered, respected and loved than Jesus Christ. He performed works of compassion for the people he met; he wept over the world’s spiritual blindness and poured out his life for all. But in spite of the good things Jesus did, the world hated him without cause.

What did Jesus do that he should be so despised, both in his own day and today? Simply put, the world hated him because he came as a light to deliver all from darkness. He declared: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). Jesus also told us, “Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20).

Jesus promised to deliver people from their chains of darkness and pledged to set men everywhere free from all satanic power. However, what we Christians see as a holy gift of deliverance and liberty is viewed by the world as a form of bondage. Such people love their sins and have no desire to be free from them.

The Light of the world is come and dwells within you. As you embrace this truth and walk in the Spirit, you will be able to shine forth his light to those around you.