“But, someone, please give me — who is born again but still so much in need of being born anew — give me the details of how to live in the waiting cocoon before the forever begins?” ~ Ann Voskamp
Jesus and Nicodemus had a most interesting conversation once. Jesus had told Nicodemus that “unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus, struggling to follow Jesus’ line of thought, took exception to the instruction, inquiring how a man could possibly be “born again”.
Jesus and Nicodemus were talking about two entirely different kinds of births. Nicodemus could only focus upon our physical birth while Jesus was speaking about a spiritual birth. Our physical birth only introduces us to this world and all the ways of this world but a spiritual birth helps us to look past this world to God’s world.
This was a concept that was difficult for Nicodemus to appreciate and it is a concept that is difficult for many people today. We are a see-hear-touch kind of people. As long as we can see things, hear things, and touch things, we often do not look for deeper meaning or deeper reality. If we do not look deeper, though, we will miss God because our world is filled with distraction and will not, on its own, show us a clear path to the Kingdom.
In my own mind, I often liken the world to one of those “impossible mazes” that one can find in puzzle books. A person can spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out a way through the maze only to meet dead end after dead end. Many times, there is no solution because the puzzle was constructed to confound and not to be solved.
If we keep our minds and hearts fixed on the world, we will be led down one dead-end passage after another. While we might think that we are gaining ground — perhaps because we are achieving worldly goals such as success or fortune — we will one day come to the realization that our journey had been in vain all along.
Without Jesus and His Kingdom as our goal, the journey will always be in vain. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit will we be able to see more clearly and be able to follow the one path that will lead us to God.
FAITH ACTION: Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life in a fuller way today.