I have often heard it said that being a Christian is really hard to do. As I have pondered this for some time, I have concluded that “trying” to be a Christian is very, very, hard to do . . . in fact, it is impossible to do! Since it is impossible, I wonder why so many try to do it.
Perhaps it is that they want to have entrance into heaven, or perhaps have sins forgiven; who would not want that . . . right? Maybe they want God to bless them with good things, or to hear their prayers; perhaps they want some sort of eternal life insurance policy.
Whatever the case may be, there sure are many people trying hard to be a Christian. The unfortunate thing is this; how good they are, or how upright, nice, or generous they may be, no matter how hard they try, they will always come up short.
The truth is simple; you see no one is born a Christian.
I know, I know, there are those who believe that if we are born in a certain country, are members of a certain church that you are, by birth, Christians; well the Book, which Christianity is based on; the Bible says differently.
Jesus, the One who should know about these matters came right out and told a churchman (Pharisee) the true nature of becoming a Christian. The person’s name was Nicodemus; here is how it went down . . .
Nicodemus; not wanting to be seen by others, came to Jesus at night. When he saw Jesus, Nicodemus starting telling Jesus that he believed that he was from God, because no one could do the stuff Jesus was doing unless that was true.
Then Jesus rocks Nicodemus’ world by saying this;
“I’m telling you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless he is born again.”
WHAT! I am sure that is what old Nicodemus thought! He says to Jesus; “How can a man go back into his mother’s womb to be born again?”
Jesus then goes on to tell Nicodemus that this is not a physical rebirth, but a spiritual one. The Holy Spirit of God touches the heart of a man or woman and the spirit it reborn; that is the moment a person becomes a Christian.
It is kind of like this; the Bible says that we all have been “created in the image of God;” that means that there is a certain something of God, which is resident in us, a seed perhaps. It is significant that Jesus uses the illustration of being born again to describe what happens to us when we believe.
In the natural world, a seed from a man, finds its way to the female egg, when the two meet, in an instant, a new life begins. All the genetic information to produce another human being is locked up in those two parts; and when they meet . . . new life!
We keep seeking, searching and looking; we get closer and closer
In the spiritual world, our spirit is drawn to God by His spirit. We can sense it and it is real. We begin to explore the whole idea of God; we look at all that He created and we intuitively know there is more; something is missing, but it is hard to put our finger on it.
We keep seeking, searching and looking; we get closer and closer until we realize that we really need Him; we desire Him and with our whole heart and mind, we reach out to Him; and he reaches back.
When our spirit touches His Spirit; BAM new life; a spiritual life that is, and we are born again; it is new and it is exhilarating!
The Bible, that used to be dry and hard to read, now leaps off the pages into our heart; we begin to understand it. We start to see things through the eyes of God and we desire to be even closer to Him. We realize that he is our best friend and develop a relationship with Him and our life takes on new meaning.
Finally, when you are born again in the spirit; it is not hard to be a Christian; you realize that you are one; not because of what you do, but rather it is because of whom you know. It is ALL about Jesus; about what He did, His sacrifice, His great love for us!
Nope, being a Christian is not hard; it is what you have become; you were born into it spiritually. Living life as a Christian will be difficult, there WILL be trials, hard times, and just because you are a Christian does not exempt you from living in a dangerous world.
Here is one final illustration to help make the point. Imagine a farmer comes and plants an apple tree. He puts in the seed, waters it and it sprouts and grows into a huge tree. After a few years, it begins to produce fruit. The big, beautiful apple grows to maturity.
Now if the apple could talk; it probably would not say; “boy, it sure is hard being an apple.” Of course, not, it is what it is . . . an apple, and it does not have to struggle to be one, it was born that way.
Now to be sure; with lots of people eating apples these days, being an apple is rather dangerous, but being one . . . well, that comes naturally; so it is with those who have been born of the Spirit!