July 1 | Disciples Are Born Again
1 Peter 1:23, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
It is always important to remember that the most pivotal aspect of being a disciple is being born again. To be “born again” means that you have been given a new spiritual life from God. Jesus taught Nicodemus, that if you’re not born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). A person is born again by the Holy Spirit when they believe in Jesus, God’s only begotten (unique) Son (John 3:16).
Today’s passage teaches that the Word of God plays a special role in our process of being born again. Peter wrote that the Word of God acts as a seed that gives us new life and it never perishes because it is always living and enduring. Likewise, Paul wrote in Romans 10:17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
When a lost person hears the Word of God, it is like a seed being sown in their heart. However, Jesus taught in the “Parable of the Sower,” if the seed falls on the road side (an unbelieving heart) the devil will come and take it away like a bird. If the seed falls on the rocky soil (a weak faith) the sun (persecution) will come and burn the small plant that sprouted. If the seed falls among thorns (a sinful heart), it will be choked out by the weeds (sins). However, if the Word of God comes to a heart with faith (good soil) it will grow and produce good fruit (Luke 8:4-15).
The Word of God is always the same and nothing can change its power. However, it is faith that determines how the seed will grow in one’s own life. Therefore, choose to have faith in God’s Word to be born again and remain in faith to let the Word of God produce good fruit in your life.
It’s important that we hear the Word of God, as the very voice of Jesus speaking to us His will for our lives. Many people have read the Bible but they haven’t had the faith to receive and obey it as if it was God speaking to them. Alexander MacLaren wrote, “Christ’s voice sounds now for each of us in loving invitation; and dead in sin and hardness of heart though we be, we can listen and live. Christ Himself, my brother, sows the seed now. Do you take care that it falls not on, but in, your souls?” Listen to the Word of God and choose to believe what it says because by it we are born again and changed from the inside out!
Reflection
Do you have a fruitful new life in Christ?
Action
- If you are not born again, place your faith in Jesus and be born again today.
- Allow the Word of God to grow deep roots in your life and produce good fruit.
- Remain in faith by not letting anything take away the Word of God from your life.