Birth… 27 years ago was a birthing day for me. Right about now (7:30 a.m.) Kerry and I were deep into that Lamaze breathing stuff. If he missed a breath, so did I…pushing instead ! Poor Kerry was hoarse by the time it was all over. I was exhausted..
I relive my birthing days every year. I don’t know if all mothers do that…but I relive both of mine. I remember what we did the hours before it started, details about the people who were present. I remember that it hurt, …but I don’t remember the way it felt. And I remember the infant son born from my body, nuzzling against me, knowing me…..knowing that I was his mother…that I was the source of his nourishment. I remember looking into their little face, looking deep into their eyes, as they looked for the first time at the grand new world.
Spiritual birth is reality. Just as our physical birth brings us into the world of our parents, so does spiritual birth usher us into a spiritual realm, the realm of Jesus Christ and the very kingdom of our Father God. ’Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.’ (John 3:6)
‘..flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God..(1 Cor. 15:50) It doesn’t matter how strong you are, how talented you are, how determined you are…you can’t be part of what God is involved in, can’t be inside the gates of this kingdom, without this new birth.
I am spiritually reborn…..and I know where my nourishment comes from. I labored in the process, not understanding…trying to stay where I was, yet grasp the spiritual realm as well. I guess being confined inside the religious predicament I was in offered some sort of security…but a baby can’t stay in the confines of the womb…it must be born, or die.
I am so thankful to know the reality of spiritual birth. I’m so secure in the love of my Father. He is so faithful in His care for me, nourishing me, teaching me, even His disciplining me.
It’s a grand new world, this kingdom of God.
