For devotions today we’re looking at the good and the bad found in John 3 and 4.  We’re looking at Nicodemus (John 3), the good….and then the Samaritan woman (John 4), the bad.  What a contrast between the two of them.  One has a great reputation, and one has a bad reputation.  One is seemingly solid, the other is seemingly struggling.  One represents the so called good…and one represents the so called bad.  The truth is, each had a little (or a lot) of both.  Each of them had “stuff.”  Each had a life story.  And each of them were trying to fill the void they felt in their lives with something.

Every one of us has a story.  We know that to be true each day.  As we dig deeper into the lives around us we discover a lot more than what meets the eye…with each person.  There’s life happening.  The drama of life.  The good and bad.  As we read deeper into the story of the Samaritan woman for example, we discover that she may of come from a religious home.  She wasn’t just this person who was an outcast.  She knew some of what scripture talked about.  She had heard things from her family.  She even had heard about the Messiah that would come and answer all her questions someday. So when Jesus went to talk to her, she became more and more interested in what he was saying.  He was there to accept her no matter what was going on in her life.  No matter what her story.

Jesus accepts us for who we are too.  He accepts us no matter what we’ve done…or we’ll do.  Whether we’re like Nicodemus, or like the Samaritan woman.  He does this when we believe in him.  So as we live life, may we listen, understand and accept all the stories out there. Including our own. And then may it be a life’s passion to point others to the only thing that can fill the voids we have in life.  Jesus is the answer.