Born Again.
Such a controversial label. Such a controversial term. Yet one that is powerful. One that holds a lot of promise.
Too many people have been persecuted for this label. Too many have been misunderstood. Yet for those who understood it; those who embraced it – there is much freedom.
When I began to understand what being born again means, it dawned on me what predestination is.
While we claim that Christianity and getting saved is a choice we make, I really can’t help but be convinced that it is also a revelation that God makes or gives to each one. I have seen many people – mostly friends and even family – make that decision to accept Jesus. At the height of an emotional setting, perhaps overcame by the music or the feel of the event, or perhaps pressured by the others who respond to the altar call, they also make the decision to accept Christ.
And yet, weeks after, when the spiritual high fades off, they are back to their old habits – forgetting that they committed their lives already to Jesus.
What happened?
Sometimes I wonder if the conversion was real? If the decision to follow Jesus, to commit their lives to him was indeed, in fact, sincere. It’s different from Christians who simply lost fire and zeal. These Christians at least know that they are still saved and are aware that they are missing out on God by being distant.
But the ones I am talking about, they are not even aware that they are missing out on anything. They didn’t even experience the hunger.
I imagine being born again as being revealed something so wonderful you suddenly grew very hungry for it. You want to know more. You yearn for more.
You cannot be satisfied. Your spirit was suddenly awakened and you became so hungry. Hungry for God’s Word. And so you do everything necessary to learn more about the truth.
Sadly, I’ve seen people be born again yet continue to live spiritually dead lives. And I wonder, where they ever born again in the first place?
