You know many times you hear of the new life we are to live when we accept Christ as our Savior, But what does that really mean?
Well over the past couple of days I have had plenty of time to think of it. As with all other situations I went to the way my kids and I interacted and looked at it from that viewpoint. God is our Heavenly Father, we can never hope to be as He yet the same basic principles apply.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
We are born again spiritually as newborns in Christ.
What do newborns do? Nothing with out the mom and dad. As we do nothing with out God the Father and Christ.
Just as a newborn we must get food every few hours, in this case The Word of God, also known as the Bread of Life. A newborn will eat every 2 or 3 hrs in the first few stages of it's life. A new Christian will read the Word voraciously at first.
A newborn will sleep and grow exponentially in the first few years. A new Christian properly taught and led should do the same.
A newborn is completely dependent on the parents, grandparents, nurses, doctors etc.. for their well-being.
A new Christian is totally dependent on teachers, preachers, Friends etc...for the well-being of their faith.
Just as a newborn is brought forth by water and blood into a new life, eyes unopened, voice not formulated, unable to stand or walk so is the new Christian.
The new Christian has their eyes opened by Christ and the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, no opinions just a sense of wonderment as they are awoke to a new world.
We the grown mature Christians are responsible for their well-being and their growth. But how often do we get them to God then let go? We would not do it with a newborn baby then why do we do it with newborn Christians? We are setting them up for failure more often than not.
The new Christian must be fed the milk of the word till they progress to the meat. They are vulnerable to attack, young and impressionable. They are not clothed in the word. They do not know how to feed themselves a proper diet for growth and nutrition.
They are feeble minded, unsteady, and looking for guidance.
We are woefully inadequate in the discipleship area. We get them in. We tell them to read and pray, then we let them go till the next week, the next Sunday morning service.
In the New Testament in the book of Acts the Church was meeting every single day. They did not allow time for satan, or the old life to retake what was lost to them.
Acts 2:44-47KJV
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
We today have no time for God and worship, teaching and training, charity and love. We prefer to see them next week whilst we live our lives in between services. We are content to do what we must instead of what we should, what we can to make sure these souls thrive and the next generation is as strong as it could be.
We shall give answer for all our children, Spiritual and Physical ones. We can only hope we are not found lacking.
Well over the past couple of days I have had plenty of time to think of it. As with all other situations I went to the way my kids and I interacted and looked at it from that viewpoint. God is our Heavenly Father, we can never hope to be as He yet the same basic principles apply.
John 3
King James Version (KJV)
3 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
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.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
We are born again spiritually as newborns in Christ.
What do newborns do? Nothing with out the mom and dad. As we do nothing with out God the Father and Christ.
Just as a newborn we must get food every few hours, in this case The Word of God, also known as the Bread of Life. A newborn will eat every 2 or 3 hrs in the first few stages of it's life. A new Christian will read the Word voraciously at first.
A newborn will sleep and grow exponentially in the first few years. A new Christian properly taught and led should do the same.
A newborn is completely dependent on the parents, grandparents, nurses, doctors etc.. for their well-being.
A new Christian is totally dependent on teachers, preachers, Friends etc...for the well-being of their faith.
Just as a newborn is brought forth by water and blood into a new life, eyes unopened, voice not formulated, unable to stand or walk so is the new Christian.
The new Christian has their eyes opened by Christ and the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, no opinions just a sense of wonderment as they are awoke to a new world.
We the grown mature Christians are responsible for their well-being and their growth. But how often do we get them to God then let go? We would not do it with a newborn baby then why do we do it with newborn Christians? We are setting them up for failure more often than not.
The new Christian must be fed the milk of the word till they progress to the meat. They are vulnerable to attack, young and impressionable. They are not clothed in the word. They do not know how to feed themselves a proper diet for growth and nutrition.
They are feeble minded, unsteady, and looking for guidance.
We are woefully inadequate in the discipleship area. We get them in. We tell them to read and pray, then we let them go till the next week, the next Sunday morning service.
In the New Testament in the book of Acts the Church was meeting every single day. They did not allow time for satan, or the old life to retake what was lost to them.
Acts 2:44-47KJV
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
We today have no time for God and worship, teaching and training, charity and love. We prefer to see them next week whilst we live our lives in between services. We are content to do what we must instead of what we should, what we can to make sure these souls thrive and the next generation is as strong as it could be.
We shall give answer for all our children, Spiritual and Physical ones. We can only hope we are not found lacking.
No comments:
Post a Comment