Someone said to me that we Christians live so much with our heads in heaven that we don’t notice life here and now. Like we’re living in the clouds and don’t really see what’s going on here on earth and how we should be living here.

It’s true. Sometimes we are so focused on the future and the life hereafter that we forget we still have a role to play here on earth. I suspect the opposite is also true. Sometimes life presses so hard that we only focus on the now and completely forget where we are going and what awaits us.

We must remember that the day we were born again, mind you, born again, it was not a human birth. Human birth presupposes an endpoint. There is a day and date in the future when the life that was born will come to an end.

That’s what sin does. It takes us to death. But when we are born a second time God is involved and everything changes. Now there is no end. When our earthly life stops, the new life kicks in and there is no end in sight.

God lives forever. God lived before creation and will live on forever. When we are born again through God’s work, we also receive this benefit.

Yes, sometimes we get so busy with life that we forget we are born again and anew. We live these busy lives every day to get stuff, and don’t realise this is all just noise, because all earthly stuff will get to the finish line at some point, and then it’s done.

^23-24… our new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said, the old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; grass dries up, flowers wilt, God’s Word goes on and on forever.

However, when I realise that the second birth enables me to live beyond this worldly finish line, it makes me live in the now quite differently. Then other things start to matter to me.

Then it’s not so much what I have and what I can still get, but more how I live life. Then other people walking with me start to come into focus. Then others’ needs also affect my needs and I plan with them to solve their challenges.

But more than that. If I live my life today knowing that my second birth has happened to take the finish line out of the picture, people whose finish line is still a reality in their lives become part of my everyday picture.

How can I keep the news to myself? How can I keep the news to myself and watch other people’s finish line get closer and closer?

I am overjoyed when I truly realise what my rebirth has accomplished for me and that the real truly joyful and peaceful life is still on the way. I get new courage to handle life here on earth. The sun rises again from the darkness. And it moves me to share the good news with others.

Scripture
1 Peter 1:22-25

Reflection
Do you live with or without a finish line?
What does your rebirth mean to you?
Who can you share it with today?

Prayer
Father, thank you for the second birth and that the finish line is no longer in my picture. Help me share it with everyone around me, friends, family, and even strangers. That way I might just be able to save a life today. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.