John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Happy Birthday! We say it, we yell it, we sing it. When we are young we look forward to the day and all the excitement and celebration that comes with it, presents, cake, party hats and friends. When we get older we try not to think about the day approaching and another number added to our age. On November 8th my parents welcomed their last of three children into the world. You know what they say about saving the best…right?
Today I have gotten Happy Birthday hugs and kiss from my wife, text messages, Facebook messages from friends, and my junior high classes have sung to me. My wonderful wife taught me that what isn’t celebrated isn’t appreciated. She always does a wonderful job of making me feel special and loved on my birthday. I know when it is her birthday and our kids birthday I do whatever I can to make them feel special and loved. We make a big deal about birthdays and rightfully so. As I thought about this though It made me think of the verse, John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Our birthday is important, if we didn’t have one we wouldn’t be here and my heart breaks for the million of unborn babies that had their birthday stolen from them because someone made that “choice.” My heart also breaks for the millions who have not been born again. My born again birthday happened when I was a young child but I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew who Jesus was and I understood what he did for me. I can still remember that day like it was yesterday. I don’t remember the exact date but I know where I was and what I was doing. I hope you have memories of the day you were born again.
I say all of this because we are so quick to tell people happy birthday and to go out of our way to make their day special but we are scared or afraid to talk to people about their need to be born again. John 3:3 is very clear that if we do not have a spiritual birth by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we will not spend eternity in Heaven. Think about that for a minute… A spiritual birthday is required to be saved, to experience Christ in Heaven for eternity.
We can buy people the most amazing presents. We can spend countless dollars and hours working hard to make their birthday special and rememberable. However, if we don’t share the gospel with them we are missing out on giving them the most precious and wonderful gift there ever is. Maybe when you celebrate someones birthday you need to think of a creative way to share the gift of Jesus with them and make their birthday even more special by them being born again!