I have been stuck in awe with this teaching Jesus gave to Nicodemus. (John 3:1-21) Here is a pharisee a teacher of Israel and he’s being taught by this traveling preacher. You could sit and reflect for months on these twenty-one verses.
Have you really thought about the whole idea of being born again? Its a term that is so used today we have forgotten what it means in many cases. And to be honest our understanding is much like Nicodemus’s. It is being born. It is labor, it is a process of being in one place and moved through to another. Think about it. It is more than just saying I’m a Christian. It is the process of being involved in spiritual labor. The time we acknowledge our faith in Christ is just the water breaking it isn’t the birth. That is when we as spiritual fetuses start to turn to God and make the journey to the next place.
From that point on we are in a place of transfer, movement, birth. First get these urges these nudges and pushes move. We may not want to but eventually we turn and move. Then we crown our head and mind enter into the realm of God. We begin to gain some understanding. Our eyes are opened into something strange and unknown we are no longer caught in a place where our only focus is ourselves. Next our shoulders and arms are freed and we begin to reach out to do various thing to pull ourselves into this new world. Next our hips emerge and our legs. I think you get the picture.
The thing is that God does most of the work. He provides the way and the means. This is why Nick had such a hard time with the teaching. He like us all thought we provide the means through our sacrifices. But the sacrifices aren’t our way to God they are our way to realise and recognize that God is really involved in every aspect of our lives, our finances, career, family and marriages. Our only place is to acknowledge that God the Father, through Christ, by the Spirit has done this for us. Then we should live accordingly.
Where does condemnation come from? It is our refusal to participate with the work God is doing. Condemnation is like a toddler throwing a fit and holding their breath till they pass out because they don’t get their way. When we think about it isn’t that really what our rebellion from God really is, throwing a fit because we aren’t getting our way?
Today imagine the process of being born again. Recognizing our various trials are like the contractions that are compelling us to the new life. Examine your life and see where we are rebeling and then ask God how we can embrace Him more fully in these.
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