My Christmas gratitude.... Nicodemus?

In the most important conversation in human history, Jesus tells a probing Nicodemus one night, "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." (John 3:6-8).

And it is here where our entire faith and hope hinge.

When I was born again, I had no idea where the Holy Spirit came from (Though I do know its source). I had no idea why the Spirit has chosen to fill me (Though I do know because of the meritorious cause of our justification - the blood of Jesus Christ). I have no idea where the Spirit is going to next (Though I do know it will be wherever a new believer is).

Wesley said "The wind bloweth - According to its own nature, not thy will, and thou hearest the sound thereof - Thou art sure it doth blow, but canst not explain the particular manner of its acting. So is every one that is born of the Spirit - The fact is plain, the manner of his operations inexplicable."

The one thing God always asks of us is to trust in Him. Genuine faith is trusting that we may not have all the answers, but that is okay. When we are inwardly renewed by the Holy Spirit the moment of genuine faith, we begin to understand what this means.

Indeed, I don't know why God chose me - but, in no uncertain terms, I am unequivocally sure that He has, by the presence of the Holy Spirit that captured and transformed, and continues to do so every moment of my life here.

When Nicodemus tiptoed to Christ that night, He invoked a conversation that revealed a secret kept before the start of time. When we are born again, everything is anew. The eyes and heart I perceive life with are everything the Old Testament champions of faith longed for, and they are everything we can ask for in this life. Assurance of God, assurance of His immutable character and Love, and assurance that this Helper indwelling in me is my minutely reminder that a eternity of joy is just around the corner.

Thanks be to God... and thanks be to Nicodemus.