Is There Any Way You Could Say, "No" to This Man?

7/30/2001

I recently heard this “testimony” from a believer in another state. Her voice was unsteady at times, with obvious emotion. She said: “…I didn’t have the Truth. But it took about two years of going through this stuff within myself before [a friend], now my husband, shared Jesus with me. And what he said was simply this, ‘You must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God’ (Jn. 3:5-7). And at that point in my life I was at the absolute bottom of anything within myself that was of any value. It had been ripped away, had been stolen. I had given it away and there was nothing left in me. And I thought, ‘There’s nothing good in me. I could never enter into the Kingdom of God UNLESS I am A NEW CREATURE!’ So it made sense to me. I’d never heard that saying, “being born-again.” It was just bigger than life. I thought, ‘That’s what I want!…. Lord, after seeing You, I don’t want anything else.’”

The thought struck me, “Wow! What an invitation!” What an astounding, unfathomable opportunity that Jesus extends to us!! Nothing short of scrapping the whole sordid thing and starting over—born from Above, from the very womb of God—could remedy our hopeless situation.

Here’s a text message from 1997 that expresses what i was feeling:

Whilst holding a baby recently, I had the thought, “How WONDERFUL it would be to HAVE NEVER SINNED!” What an amazing thing to have NEVER been soiled, defiled, fatigued, twisted, manipulated by sin! No laziness. No jealousy. No rebellion. No lust. No fear. No deceit. No pride. NEVER SOILED BY ANY OF THAT!! What a precious thing to have NO scars, no failures…

And yet…if we’ll face Jesus, bow our knees, cry out to Him for washing, pledge to Him our life-long love and allegiance and obedience…HE MAKES US FREE AND CLEAN—JUST LIKE A NEW-BORN BABY!