John 3:2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

As came out in yesterday’s reading, Jesus’ miracles were to inspire faith, and they obviously did that in Nicodemus. However, he wasn’t yet to the point of accepting that Jesus was the promised Messiah. This was a good start, though, and Jesus was ready to take him further. The next things Jesus said, about being born again and such, rattled his religious framework, and probably made him back off for a while. However, he couldn’t lose his conviction, expressed here, that Jesus came from God, and that conviction gave him the courage to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. I’m sure he joined the body of believers very soon after the resurrection, and was quite possibly among the 120 at Pentecost, but he doesn’t appear by name in the Bible after his going to Pilate. The point to me is that faith grows. I don’t know that we would say that he had “saving faith” in the incident recorded here, but he certainly came around to it. We aren’t to be impatient with people, but work with them where they are, trusting God to draw them to Himself and keeping ourselves available to be used in the process.

This certainly brings to mind a man I’ve been working with for several years now. He’s been attending church faithfully since last August, but he hasn’t come to the point of open commitment yet. I think that he himself is aware that he’s going to do that before long! He is drawn more than anything else by the love he sees expressed in the church, among the believers and even to him, though he hasn’t yet expressed faith. God’s love is incredibly attractive! I’m not to rush him, but I am to continue encouraging him to step out in faith and receive Jesus into his heart as Lord. That day will come, and it will mean his eternal salvation, just as Jesus talked about with Nicodemus.

Father, thank You for Your patience with us. Help us be patient with ourselves and with those around us, not using patience as an excuse for inaction, but not insisting that things happen on our desired timetable. Thank You for all You are doing on this trip. Thank You for the time with my siblings yesterday morning, and for the fellowship with the Japanese church in the afternoon. May we flow with Your Spirit each moment, on Your schedule, so that Your purposes may be accomplished for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!