Daily Devotion September 26

September 26: John 3:1-10

KJV Key Verse: John 3:5
5 Jesus answered , Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Devotion:
Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish council at the time with only 71 members. The only person above them was the high priest. For someone like this to try to come and meet with Jesus and find out about His doctrine suggests that this council had become worried that someone was usurping their authority. That is probably the main reason why he came at night – so nobody would see him and know that he was coming.

But when Nicodemus got to Jesus he already knew there was something very special about Him: “no man can do these miracles ..., except God be with him.” He already knew that God must be with Jesus, but what he probably did not want to accept at first was that Christ is God.

What he was confronted with stunned him even further. He was told he would have to be born again! Like most people, the thought of having to somehow be born as a grown up rather than as a baby just did not fit into his brain! But the message was clear, Nicodemus would have to go through some sort of change before he would be able to get to heaven. Up to that point he had been upholding the law as was required of him by God. He was elected to make sure the law was followed exactly as it was written in the Word of God.

Jesus explanation of being born again erased those thoughts from his mind. Being born again of the spirit was nothing visible, but the after effects are visible. Just like you cannot see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind on the trees – you cannot see the moment of re-birth, but you can see the change in the person afterwards. Whether that change is sustained or simply wasted is up to us.

Points to Ponder:
Have you been born again?

Are you doing your best for Christ?