Life-spark: Life is not full if it has no surprises. (John 3:1-10)
Over and over in the gospel of John, the Apostle says that miracles are signs of the life available in Jesus Christ. In John 3:2, we see another reference to miraculous signs.
Jesus said to the Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, “You saw some miracles but you missed the signs. A person needs new eyes to see into the arena where God operates, and that these new eyes come as part of a second birth, a personal regeneration.”
Jesus talked about a whole new level of life, a spiritual, eternal level that supersedes the biological level. Second birth gives people five spiritual senses that allow them to perceive beyond what their five physical senses can perceive.
Nicodemus didn’t get it, so Jesus switched metaphors from birth to wind. He said the spirit realm is like wind. You can’t see the wind, but you can hear it. The wind is discerned outside of the sight realm, in the sound realm and the touch (feel) realm. To sense the wind, you have to switch from sight to sound and feel. Likewise, to understand and experience Jesus’ miracles, you to use your ‘second-birth senses.’
Nicodemus scratched his head again. Jesus said, “I’ve explained these invisible, spiritual truths to you using earthy metaphors, and you still don’t get it! And you’re a spiritual leader/ teacher of God’s people. That’s sad.” Then the Lord noted that Nicodemus was surprised by His words. That’s a good sign.
Somewhere between spiritual blindness and spiritual awareness comes surprise. Only children can enter God’s kingdom. Kids are easily surprised. Nicodemus was surprised on his way to awareness. Later in the Bible, we discover that he became a Christ-follower.
Could it be that discerning God’s signs of life is for most of us a process that goes from unawareness to surprise to comprehension? Could it be that I should be surprised almost every day by fresh revelation? Just now, I asked myself, “Have I been surprised yet today by God? Will I be surprised later today? Should I be being surprised more often?” I wouldn’t be surprised if the answers were, “No. No. Yes.”
Life-challenge: Count how many times today you are surprised by God.