Lenten Feast Day

Lenten Feast Day
Sunday, March 19, 2017

I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. . . .
I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit. . . .
You should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again.

John 3:3, 5, 8

We hear a lot about illegal aliens in our country right now. They were not born here. They have entered illegally. They have no citizenship here.

I wonder if that could possibly be true for some of us. We go to church. We even join the church. We lead fairly moral lives – not too strict, just fairly moral. We only lie if it is really expedient. Compared to the rest of the world, we’re pretty good. But according to Jesus’ guidelines for kingdom people, are we really there? Putting a horse in a garage does not make it a car. Have we put ourselves in church hoping that puts us in the kingdom?

Are we trying to see the kingdom without having entered? Does the term “born again” scare us, conjure up some image that we don’t like to think about.

It’s Jesus’ term, not ours. It’s his prerequisite for kingdom living, not ours. It’s his clear teaching that this dramatic change must take place in our lives if we are to be real citizens of the kingdom of God. And since he is the King, he should understand the rules for becoming a citizen better than anyone.

Pastor Mark preached a sermon once in which he asked, “Are you sure?” Are we? Are we in the church and in the kingdom? Are we legal citizens? Jesus said this kingdom living is important, so we need to “be sure.”

Prayer: Father, thank you for your Holly Spirit who constantly woos us to you. Do whatever you must in our hearts to make us real, born again, kingdom people and sure of who we are. Amen.

And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem. . . .

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2007,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator