As we begin the new year, many of us will make new year resolutions and will make promises to ourselves to do better in 2017. I usually forget my new year resolutions within the first 2-3 weeks of the year, so I have learned not to make lofty resolutions! However, there is one resolution that we should always make.
The most significant resolution to make is to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. When we focus on developing our relationship with God, we act more like Jesus and less like our old self. We decrease and He increases. It makes us better spouses, parents, friends, employees, employers, and citizens. We develop the right perspective to handle people and circumstances, and we become the influencers for the Kingdom rather than being influenced by worldliness.
To start the new year with the right focus, we should go back to the basics of our faith:
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:1-6
Nicodemus was a knowledgable and religious man. As a religious leader, he admitted that the teachings of Jesus were divine and true! However, there was more that Nicodemus needed to know. When he tried to complement Jesus about His teachings, Jesus went to the heart of the matter. He told Nicodemus that unless one is born again, he will not see the Kingdom of God. Then He explained that one must be born of the spirit and of water.
Being a Christian is not about being raised in a Christian home neither is it just about a mental assent to the truth. Man’s spirit at the time of birth is dead and has no communication with God. It is only through the work of the Cross, that the chasm between us and God is closed, and He chooses to breathe into our spirit man His Holy Spirit and causes it to come alive spiritually for the first time.
This is the beginning of our journey and relationship with God. Now we have the opportunity to allow our spirit man to grow, mature, and become the ruler of our soul and body. In the past, our soul (emotions, mind, and will) was in charge, and it took its cues from the natural world. However, the spirit man communes with the Holy Spirit and is led by God. Therefore, it is not subject to the external forces. This is critical for our spiritual growth; we must allow the spirit man to grow and take charge and not remain an infant.
How is your spirit man doing? Does it rule your life under the leading of the Holy Spirit? Can you distinguish between your spirit man and your soul? Being a born again Christian is a lifelong commitment to nurturing the spirit man and communing with God!
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
