John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

We don’t like to admit that, but it’s true.  We revel in doing the wrong thing.  The evil of our hearts, the sinful flesh loves the works of darkness.  If someone wants to commit a crime, they usually wait for nightfall so the darkness, they feel, is covering up their crime.  They want to blend into the shadows and remain hidden and unseen.  And that darkness in us called sin compels us to sneak around trying to get away with all kinds of things we really shouldn’t be doing.

We need the light to illuminate our darkness, an outside source of light so we can see the truth.  Jesus is the Light that came into the world.  His brightness, purity, and holiness, His sinlessness next to our sinfulness exposes the evil in all of us.  The contrast between the perfect Son of God and sinful man is night and day.  But so many just want to stay in the dark.  They don’t want wrong to be wrong because they love those wrong things.

We see that so many times in Scripture where Jesus challenges someone, and they look inside themselves and see the wickedness of their own heart, but instead of turning to Jesus, they turn away from Him.  They turn against Him.  So many of them come to hate Him because they themselves have an evil heart, and they hate His righteousness because it magnifies their own sinful state.  They prefer that darkness so they can continue to do whatever they want.

But even so, God loved that world and those people.  He loved us while we were yet sinners.  That’s part of what makes His grace so amazing.  He looks upon all of us as we’re stumbling around in that darkness, full of sin and evil and unrighteousness, and He reaches for us.  He pulls the curtain back and lets a little light shine in to show us a better way, to draw us to Him and a life of righteousness and forgiveness and wholeness that cannot be found in the shadows of sin.  So when Jesus shines His spotlight into our hearts, we all have a choice to make.  We can either respond to Him and step into His holy light or retreat farther and farther into the darkness.