John 3:3 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
I want to be like Jesus! This statement sounds like a cliché as we often say it during our Christian walk. If you choose to be a student of Jesus, the desire to be like him ought to be our life until we stand for the final judgement. What does it mean to be born again? As I was working at my desk one morning pondering on a statement I read about Jesus, the Spirit prompted me to say out loud ‘I want to be like Jesus.’ I asked myself, what does that mean?
I started pondering about my life as a Christian in this world. For some of us, after we have been found and rescued by Jesus and we have been in the faith for a certain period, we tend to take God's grace, mercy, and Salvation for granted. We often don't even realize the condition of our journey. Satan, our enemy loves it when we live a religious life with no spiritual substance. What do I mean by that statement? We live life doing the right things, checking our list, looking good to those around us but we are not connected to the source of transformation. We are living a fantasy life like the young rich ruler who gave the impression that he thought he was on his way to heaven because he followed the written law and yet he was nowhere near God's salvation (Luke 18: 18-30; Mark 10:17-31). Or we might be like the Pharisees and Sadducees who had the knowledge of God without the presence of the true living God in their lives (Mathew 23:13-39). Jesus, who was the Bible in flesh, was a simple man. He lived the scriptures; he did not do the scriptures. When we do something, it is often a task but when something becomes part of our being or existence it is alive in every area of our life. The Hebrew writer wrote “See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword-it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joint meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account (Hebrews 4:12-13, Complete Jewish Study Bible). In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus gave us a clear example about what having a Christian zeal without living a newborn life in Christ looks like as he addressed the Ephesus brothers and sisters. Our goal in our Christian journey is to allow the word of God to transform every part of our lives to do his will. Jesus has set many examples for us through his ministry to learn what it means to live a born-again life. Even after he resurrected and went to be with God, he manifested in the lives of the Apostle Paul as an example to see what the transformation to a new life looks like after we die to our former ways of life (Ephesians 4:17-32). Take a moment today, as we are getting ready to join the world in celebrating the birth of Jesus who is the ultimate gift from God. Examine your life to make sure you are living a born-again life that would lead you to God’s kingdom as Jesus did when he walked amongst us in the human form.
