The First Step on a Journey
This past week we observed Independence Day here in America. This is the celebration of our freedom from being ruled over by a tyrannical king. This new start came at a cost and wasn’t easy to achieve. It took time to get there.
Our spiritual freedom is the same.
Being born again is a common saying among Christians but can be hard for those who aren’t Christian to understand. Like the example of Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a Jewish leader, in John 3:1-8. He came to Jesus and asked Him about who He was.
Jesus told him, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above before you can see God’s kingdom!”
Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that before you can get into God’s kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit.”
This put Nicodemus in a tough spot because most Jewish leaders didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah. If Nicodemus believed, it put him at risk of being tortured or killed. Based on later Scriptures it is believed by most that Nicodemus chose to follow Jesus and be “born again”.
We have this same decision to make. We can choose to follow Jesus or follow the world. Following Jesus can put us at odds with the worldly perspectives. But if we follow Jesus, we have the Spirit on our side.
Choosing a clean start is up to us.
Pastor Lisa asked the question whether our spiritual transition was a big all-at-once-aha-moment or a slow, gradual transition over time.
For me it has been a slow process over many years. Looking back, I don’t have any grand transitional experience. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t feel that the Holy Spirit wasn’t a part of my life. This doesn’t mean that there weren’t parts of the journey that weren’t hard … there were.
I used to struggle with this when I would meet people who had had one of those life-altering stories about their “born again” experiences.
I now see that both of these paths lead to the same goal.
The Holy Spirit is working everywhere, all around everyone, all the time.
The journey starts with us taking the first step.