Jul
19
2016
The Birth Day
Posted in Faith 2 Comments
Today is my birthday.
Today is my fifty-seventh time around the sun.
Birthdays are an event.
Birthdays are a milestone.
I remember when we would take a day trip and go down the shore.
It was a special day that started early in the morning.
A short time on the beach, jumping the waves, and making sand castles.
A visit to the boardwalk at night.
Exhausted from the full day, I would sleep all the way home in the back seat.
My mother loved to sing in the car.
I would fall asleep to the sound of her voice.
The next thing I knew, I was home and could officially add one year to the year before.
Birthdays change a bit when you get older.
Decades become milestones.
You don’t realize you’re getting older on the other 364 days.
However, on your birthday, the day that marks another time around the sun, you take notice.
Age does not bother me.
The older a woman gets the more confident she becomes.
The more confident she becomes, the more she likes the person she is.
The more she likes the person she is, other people like the person she is as well.
I do not know the details of my birth since I was adopted.
That was always something my children appreciated when they had to make a family tree.
They were only able to draw half of a tree.
The other half was unknown.
My birthday was never a true birthday until Mrs. C gave me a plate of her famous brownies.
My birthday was not complete until my friend, Patti, came down from her house up the street.
She and I celebrated our birthdays one day apart.
I am one day older than her and we still send cards to each other every year.
My dear friend is a week older than me.
I love to tease her about being younger.
She humors me for that one week and lets me get away with friendly teasing.
However, today the playing field is level; today we are the same age.
I share an actual birthday with quite a few special friends.
One new friend that I met at my son’s wedding just realized we shared a birthday.
She posted a sweet message on my Facebook wall.
Gina Gallagher, I knew I liked you…just saw that we share a birthday!
That post made my day!
Kindred spirits indeed, I answered her.
Connections.
Special days that we share with another.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him. In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth; no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born.” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:1-16)
We all talk about our birthdays and rightly so.
What about our Born Again Day, our New Birth Day?
That day is even more important than the day we were physically born.
One day our bodies will die; however, our souls will never die.
It matters that we have a NEW BIRTH DAY.
It matters that we are Born Again.
That is not just a catch phrase.
Born Again is from the lips of Jesus Himself.
Sometimes, you do not know your actual Born Again Day.
Sometimes, understanding the Gospel and all that Jesus did for you takes a bit of time.
Sometimes, coming to a saving faith in Jesus is a process.
Sometimes, coming to a saving faith in Jesus is immediate.
The time it may take to come to Jesus varies from person to person.
That we come to Jesus is what truly matters.
Having a birthday is a celebration.
Having a NEW BIRTH DAY causes the angels to rejoice.
Celebrate!
The New Birth Day does not get marked by years.
The New Birth Day guarantees that you will not perish but have eternal life.
Those who are in Christ have two birthdays!
It is the second BIRTH DAY that really matters.
Gina, I have read all of your entries since I started to receive them about a month ago. I got just a bit behind so HAPPY BIRTHDAY two days late. Last Friday we had a BD dinner for four in our family, all born between July 13 and July 20.
Barb’s BD is in April. She came to know the Lord in her late 20’s. My problem is people accuse me of robbing the cradle because when she tells people how old she is, she uses her second BIRTH DAY……EXCELLENT ENTRY.
Jeff,
Thank you for your kind words and your birthday wishes! I am delighted that the Whispers bless you each day. I smiled when I read what Barb says when asked her age. Smart woman! Her birthday and her NEW BIRTH DAY! I think she gives the perfect answer!
Gina