John 3:18 & 36
(18) "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God." [Words of Jesus.]
(36) "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him." [Words of John the Baptist]
When God repeats Himself, we know that this is crucial to our understanding. Here, John the Baptist reinforces the Truth that Jesus told Nicodemus that night He told him about being "born anew."
God is sovereign in who He chooses to save, but He's also given us freedom of will. So we choose what to want: we can choose to desire Truth, no matter what the cost, or we can choose to want what would make us feel good. From our perspective, we see that only those who choose to desire God and His Truth and goodness will be the ones God decides to save.
We will all give account for every choice we make. All the little decisions will accumulate and result in a major decision that will affect all of our lives, for good or ill. So I want to make sure that my small issues in life will all be decided for the right, even if it costs me. Little things don't mean a lot, they mean everything.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
