Spiritual Birthdate

by Heather Tietz

Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into the Kingdom of God! That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3:5-8

DNA. The human microchip, in every nucleus, in every cell of your body, your recipe, your program, the who of who you are. Almost. DNA might reveal what abilities or disabilities you have, what addictions you are prone to, what diseases you might acquire, but it doesn’t contain the half of who you are. Your body is separate from your spirit. Just as your body was born, your spirit must also have a birthdate.

God is Spirit. To be a part of His kingdom, part of His family, our spirits must be born into it. That means that there is a time when we are God’s creation, but not yet His child. We become God’s child when our spirits are born anew, when we are given God’s Holy Spirit.

Being born anew is an invisible birth. It happens in churches, in tax collector’s homes during dinner, in upper rooms during prayer, in jails during moments of great sorrow, on deathbeds when it’s almost too late.

Being born anew begins with us, with a choice. It is the only part we have in becoming a child in God’s kingdom. Luke 11:13 reads “how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

It is our desire that cries out for God to take over our lives, change us, forgive us, make us righteous.

Have you done that? Have you been born anew?