Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.
He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:1-5
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Today is my 50th birthday. I was born on December 11, 1974—just a few minutes before my twin brother.
But December 11 is not the only day of birth significant to my life.
When I was five years old, I accepted Jesus into my heart. After a Sunday evening church service led by my grandfather, I walked forward and received forgiveness—confessing my sin and placing my faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That was the night I recognized my sin and understood my need for a Savior. And while I do not remember the date, that was the day I was born again—born into a new life in the Spirit.
But my days of new birth do not end there.
Thirteen years later, as an 18-year old senior in high school, I knelt by my bed on a Wednesday night heartbroken and wrecked—understanding for the first time that though I prayed for forgiveness of sin as a child, I had never devoted my life to following Jesus. I had never given Him all that He deserves—my life in surrender and worship.
On a chilly November night in Omaha, NE, for the first time, I gave my whole life to Jesus promising to trust in His direction and His will.
Have I made mistakes and turned against Him in sin since that evening? Yes, I have. But I have never wavered from that decision that night to follow and live for Him.
And so today, on December 11 2024, I celebrate 50 years on this planet.
But my rebirth into a new life—the life I was fully created to live—is a day worthy of equal or even greater celebration. For life lived in the flesh is of less significance than life lived in the Spirit.
As I begin my fiftieth rotation around the sun today, my greatest hope is that you have found the same forgiveness for your sin and living faith for your life.
The Bible makes it clear there is only one way to heaven and relationship with God:
Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
There is no greater peace to be found than in a personal relationship with the God who loves you and gave His Son for you.
And there is no greater purpose to be found than in a life lived for the glory of God and the daily expansion of His kingdom in our hearts and in the world.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, reveal to me what matters most in life. If I am in need of a Savior, show me that truth. If I am in need of a Lord, show me that truth. And may all my years and all my days be lived for You. Amen.