There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
John 3:1-2, NKJV
We allow many obstacles to come between us and Jesus. A person truly seeking truth in Him may delay because they’ve bought into the false idea that there is a right and wrong way to approach Him. We’ll hit pause so we can clean up our act and appearance thinking that is what He’s most interested in or that it is prerequisite to come into His presence.
Jesus desires hearts fully pursuing Him, period.
Jesus spoke out multiple times against the group called the Pharisees. They were the religious leaders and teachers and ultimately the ruling council of the day. All of their actions and rules (oh so many rules) were based on the Bible. They were accustomed to being the challengers, not the ones being challenged. The Pharisees “followed the letter of the law while ignoring its true intent.” (Life Application Bible Commentary)
One Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cover of night. His heart was truly seeking truth in Jesus. He believed He was a teacher and performed miracles with the power of God. Yet, he didn’t approach Him in the light of day. Perhaps he was afraid of what his peers would say about him. It may have affected his position. In any case, Jesus didn’t send him out saying, “No one should be ashamed of speaking to me. Out with you coward. Our work is done in the light.”
Jesus isn’t afraid of the dark.
Jesus lights up every dark place. He is not intimidated or insecure even if we hide our pursuit of Him. He knows that light always wins. Because of Nicodemus’ seeking we have those famous red words from John 3:16. This was part of Jesus’ answer to Nicodemus asking about spiritual rebirth. Jesus wants to give us the answers… HE IS THE ANSWER! He’s waiting for us to ask.
Don’t get hung up on the “how, when, where” to approaching God. Just do it! He doesn’t withhold Himself or His answers from hearts genuinely seeking Him. You don’t have to have it all together first.