How to be born (again)

        None of us had any choice about when and where we were born, or we might have chosen somewhere else. Who would choose to be born into war torn Germany or into Pol Pot’s era in Cambodia, or even into some of the slums of present-day Calcutta?

        But Jesus gives us an alternative worth investigating. Back in Jesus’ day, a member of Parliament named Nicodemus, came to him after dark one evening, just to talk. Nico hoped Jesus could explain some things that were bothering him—instead, Jesus opened a new and puzzling question—he said, “You must be born again!” Instead of mocking the suggestion or trivializing it as modern journalists and commentators seem to do, Nico realized there was something real behind it.

       Naturally he asked how such a thing could be—obviously it couldn’t happen in a physical sense, so what did Jesus mean? The key is this: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

        In the midst of this scripture, Jesus talks about himself being “lifted up”, first on the cross, then exalted to the glory of Heaven in resurrection. This is where our own choice now comes in—“everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” By our own conscious, deliberate commitment to Jesus, we essentially choose our moment of “second birth”—and no one yet has ever wished it was anywhere else, except probably, sooner!

        I have only ever witnessed one birth, and that was my son’s. But I witnessed a second birth too, and that was my daughter’s. And I’ve experienced it myself. How about you? Why not, within your own mind and soul, thank God for his Son and thank Jesus for taking all the punishment you deserve? That second birth will never happen in you unless you respond actively to Jesus. Ì