Devotion
You Cannot See It From Where You Are Standing
“Jesus replied, Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' - John 3:3”
Nicodemus opens with a compliment. Jesus skips right past it and answers the question underneath the question.
The phrase translated born again can also be read born from above, and both readings land in the same place. This is a beginning you cannot give yourself. You did not arrange your first birth, and you cannot arrange this one either. That is exactly why it stopped Nicodemus cold. Like most Jewish leaders of his day, he believed that being born into Israel already placed him inside the people of God. He assumed he was in. Jesus tells him the kingdom is not something you inherit, earn, or study your way into. Watch the verb Jesus chooses: cannot see. The problem is not that Nicodemus is not trying hard enough. The problem is his eyesight. And a man cannot fix his own eyes.
Practice
Most of us are quietly counting on something. Church attendance. Being raised right. Being nicer than the neighbor. A decision we made at camp in 1998 that we have not thought about since.
Prayer
Father, I have been resting on things that cannot hold me. I did not earn my first birth and I cannot manufacture this one. Open my eyes to what I have not been able to see. I am not asking you to improve me. I am asking you to make me new. Amen.
This Week’s Message
This devotion follows along with this week’s message.