³ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,^[a] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 CSB)

When I was growing up and first involved in this faith I heard the term “born again” quite frequently. It seems today that this usage of how we come to faith has slipped into the background of our talk about salvation. However, it is an apt and necessary idea we should spend more time thinking about.

Birth, and birthdays, are a pretty big deal. I think back to when my children were born and remember the momentousness of those events. Furthermore, I remember how they changed my life and continued to change it with subsequent births. The same is true today with the birth of our grandchildren.

Thus, when we look at how salvation should change our lives second birth is an apt metaphor. This should mark the beginning of something new and I do not believe that new beginning ends there. Throughout our faith life we can have other new beginnings. Periods where we stop and rededicate our lives to both Christ and His mission within our lives and on earth. Like a new birth, we can begin anew at any point.

Too often we get so mired in our current life that we feel like there is no chance for us to change or begin again. This is not true, it is a lie we tell ourselves and the enemy fosters so that we feel trapped. With God there is always the chance of a new beginning.