Even if it isn’t today, one day every year it’s your birthday (actually mine is today :). I’m writing this special “birthday card” ThinkSpace for all of us to find and read on that day – or any day! – to celebrate the life we’ve been given by God. It wasn’t just the day we took our first breath. We continue to receive life from the only One who can give it – every day since then. We’ve never been flying solo on auto pilot for even a moment.
It’s nothing short of a miracle that you and I were born! It was no “accident,” no matter how we were conceived. Before that moment occurred, we were already known by God. It was actually He who planned and created you. Not just all the cells that became your heart and brain and eyes and so much more. Yes, He brought your body to life, but within it He also placed the real you: an eternal soul!
Take a minute to think about that. Take more than a minute…
Our “earth suits” have a lifespan, but our soul doesn’t. It lives on forever. More about that in a bit.
How special are you? You’re one-of-a-kind! Out of all the fertilized egg combinations that were possible, He chose one. That one became the one and only you! King David wrote these amazing God-given words in Psalm 139:13-18a (NLT)
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”
Jesus Himself says this in the Gospel of Luke 12:6-7 (NLT):
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
If we think about our life “horizontally,” confined by what we see and hear and do on earth, we can miss the BIGGER picture. Instead, seeing with our soul’s “eyes” of faith, God comes into focus. His love, His purpose for our life, His truth, goodness, power and an infinite amount more. His message to us, written in the Holy Bible, begins to open in our hearts and minds and make sense as we experience it. It’s called the Living Word of God for a reason – because it is! Our soul knows the truth when we hear it.
We access all of this by experiencing a second birthday by being born again spiritually. Jesus the Son of God said these words in the Gospel of John 3:3-7 (NLT) when talking to the Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus:
“Jesus replied, ’I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.’ ‘What do you mean?’ exclaimed Nicodemus. ‘How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?’ Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God, without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So, don’t be surprised when I say, you must be born again.’”
The most important decision we make in this life is where we will spend our eternal life, as God tells us clearly in His Word. Either Heaven or hell and both are real.
If you’ve only had one birthday, today you can be born again spiritually and receive the greatest gift you will ever be given. Pray this simple prayer that Reverend Billy Graham prayed with thousands of people at his crusades:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins, invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your name, amen.
If you prayed and meant that prayer, welcome to the family of God and happy second birthday! Click here for more resources to help you learn and grow more.
RESET HIGHER: Take time today to give thanks and celebrate your life and all the gifts you’ve been given.
