Life on Fire 5


In his conversation with Jesus about being born again, reborn by the water and the Spirit, Nicodemus recognized that a person cannot enter the womb a second time.  What he failed to see is that we are not supposed to enter the womb a second time.  When we are born again we are not to return to the safety of our previous life.  We are to move forward, advance into a new life.

As we receive the Holy Spirit we are born anew, born into a new life and a new way of having faith.  This is not simply an exciting and emotionally charged moment that is meant to fade.  It is a beginning.

The writer of Hebrews speaks about what we are to do as believers when we are born anew with the Spirit.  What are all the things we should do?  What happens when we fail to do that?

Many of us I am certain have felt that mountaintop experience when we are filled with the joy and love of God.  We may have been in a moving church service, or we may have been part of a rewarding mission project.  We may have simply seen the awesome presence of God in a sunset.  The moment is exciting, thrilling, breath-taking.  But so often we “come down” from this emotional high and life returns to that normal, mundane pace.

An encounter with the Holy Spirit is more than just a momentary high.  It is a chance to become a different person and start living out our faith in new ways.  If we will accept the presence of the Spirit, make it part of who we are and be changed by it, then we will live out our faith.

If we claim to believe in God and yet we ignore the moving of the Holy Spirit, refuse to allow it to make us new, then we have little hope.  Instead of embracing the fire of passion for God we will be consumed by the fires of regret and a failed faith.

Living with a new faith perspective requires that we pay attention to how we can help and encourage others, how we can share God’s love.  It means abandoning the old way of living, of working to avoid sinning.  It also involves being intentional in our faith life, attending worship and other gatherings of Christian brothers and sisters so that we might be part of the body of Christ.

DAILY CHALLENGE:  How will you commit to meeting together with other Christians?  How will you spur others on to good deeds?