READ: 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT
'So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!'
I’m sure you can think of many moments in life when suddenly everything changed. Your first day at school might spring to mind, or your wedding, or the birth of your children, or when you started your first job, or when you moved into a new house. From that moment
everything looked slightly different. But those moments are as nothing compared with the complete change which happens when we become Christians. No part of life is left untouched. Everything looks different.
Jesus told Nicodemus, one of the Jewish leaders, that he had to be born again. I don’t think that Nicodemus was playing games with Jesus when he showed incredulity at what Jesus was saying. Jesus’ words sounded like nonsense to him. How could he possibly go through the process of birth all over again? But Jesus was clear with him. He was no doubt a good and godly man, but he needed to start out on a completely new spiritual journey. His physical birth didn’t need to be repeated but nothing less than a spiritual rebirth would be enough.
We all have very different stories to tell of the way in which we started out on the Christian life. Some of you can probably remember the exact time and place when you became a Christian. That’s wonderful! But others of you may be more like me. I was brought up in a very loving, Christian home and Jesus has never been completely absent from my life. My journey towards personal faith in Jesus was gradual and through the love of my parents and youth leaders I was led to a clear personal commitment. The road we take isn’t the issue. What matters is that we find new life in Jesus and recognise that knowing him transforms every part of life. We are new people!




QUESTION: What was your own experience of being born again?
PRAYER: Thank you gracious God that you love me so much that you are willing to give me a new life in Jesus. Amen.

Released on 5 Feb 2021