Born Again. Earthly things?

John 3:1-12 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 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.” 3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4 “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!” 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.”


9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

Light the Fire again.

I have many times re-lit the fire on my backyard deck. I pride myself in using just one match. I look to arrange the coals from my previous fire and bring them together in close proximity to one another. That is where I strike the match that burns brightly. Though it is small, I bring it close to the coals from my previous fire. The match sparks the coals around it yet if left alone the light of the flame quickly dies out so I blow on them. I take deep breaths in hopes that the longer I blow the more intense the embers glow and the more likely new fuel will ignite. Once the embers are glowing bright I sit back and watch the progression. I see how oxygen is now flowing into the embers and the heat rises pulling in more oxygen. The coals glow and heat is created, and it rises.

The glowing embers spread out slowly. I think I can anticipate where they will spread. Then all of a sudden I see a flame break out in a surprising place. The flame's light spreads out from it and illuminates the deck area. The flame comes from fuel that has never been exposed to the fire or the heat. It was the embers closest to the fresh wood that ignited them because of their close proximity. I had purposefully positioned the wood to come in contact with the glowing embers that they might be ignited by the heat that the embers possessed and become a roaring campfire that would attract all to come and see.

Making Sense?

We all try to figure things out. We look around and our experience gives us a clue. Yet there is so much more. In our pride we take our perspective and try to use it as an answer to explain the reality of the circumstance. And then the circumstance changes. We are fools who trust in our own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5-6