Something was missing

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future”

Our Bible verse for today: “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.” John 3:6-7 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Something was missing”

Nicodemus was intrigued and confused. He was a trained religious professional, a Pharisee who has spent his life studying the Old Testament Scriptures and he knew his stuff. Or so he thought. Then along came Jesus and Nicodemus realized there was an important element in his relationship with God that he had somehow missed. He knew that somehow, in some way, Jesus was the answer.

So, Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly, at night so nobody would see him, and he asked Jesus to help him discover what was missing in his relationship with God. John 3:7 was the answer, “You must be born again.” (I can relate to Nicodemus. That’s how I came to faith in Christ. I had a good life but deep down in my heart I knew something was missing. There was still a hole in my heart that needed to be filled and which could only be filled by God. So, I came to Jesus and He filled that hole in my heart.)

All of us are born once, physically. But to be alive spiritually we must be born again. At the time He created us God breathed a living spirit into us and gave us the breath of life (Genesis 2:7; Job 33:4). But in the spiritual sense that Jesus was speaking about in John 3:6-7, that spirit is not alive in a relationship with God. Paul taught about that in Ephesians 2:1 when he told us that before salvation “…you were dead in your trespasses and sins …”

Without Jesus, the spirit within you is a dead thing that could never be allowed into heaven. It is contaminated with sin and it is dead to God. Thus – the new birth Jesus spoke of is needed. The dead spirit must be born again with a new life. Jesus then went on in John 3:16-18 to explain that the new birth occurs in a moment of time when a decision is made to place your faith in Him for the forgiveness of your sins.

The Apostle Paul expanded on this teaching about the new birth when he wrote in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Also, in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come.”

Perhaps right now, as you are reading this, you like Nicodemus and like me have come to the point where you realize something is missing. Despite the life you have and all the good things it is filled with something is still not right, something is missing. Could it be that you need to be born again? It is the new life in Christ that will fill the hole in your heart with the love of God.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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