Changing Daily: The Ongoing Transformation Of Being "Born Again"

A Journey, Not A Destination

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3:1-8

Merriam-Webster defines “born” as follows:

brought forth by or as if by birth

Merriam-Webster also gives us an alternate definition:

deriving or resulting from

Both definitions speak of change and transformation. Birth is quite the transformation, as the child goes from depending upon the mother’s body entirely to eating, drinking, and breathing on his or her own. A solution “born of necessity” is a change or transformation from the status quo which is one is compelled to undertake.

To be born is to change. Obviously, to be “born again” is also to change.

As readers of my other Substack

All Facts Matter

already know, change has been very much in the forefront of my thoughts recently. Over the past few months I have changed my day job, my approach to All Facts Matter, and even have undertaken a new ministry calling in The Houses Of Refuge Project.

In almost every manner conceivable, in the past few months I have been born again…and again….and again.

And I am still changing. I am still being born again….and again…and again.

Yet this is hardly a new thing for me. Reinvention has been a recurring theme throughout my adult life. Having been educated as an accountant, my career path has taken me from the intricacies of cost and fixed asset accounting to the pinnacle of information technology, mastering all types of hardware, software, and even programming languages. I have built both major networks and websites.

My spiritual path has been similarly convoluted, having taken me from intense study of the Bible to intense study of first Zen and then Tibetan Buddhism before coming back to the Bible.

All my life I have been changing. Does this mean that all my life I have been born again…and again…and again?

I cannot refute or dismiss the possibility. Quite the contrary, I find that possibilty quite compelling.

Was this what Jesus meant when He spoke of the need to be born again?

Was Jesus articulating that the spiritual transformation He required of all who would follow Him is an ongoing process and not a singular event?

If being born again is an ongoing process, then we arguably must be born again each and every day, perhaps each and every second of the day. That is a lot of transformation!

Yet is it really so remarkable that we be transformed this much or this often?

Are we not transformed in some fashion by every choice we make, and every action we undertake?

If we take a step forward, even just physically, we are in a different position than we were. We are changed if only in that one infinitesimal way.

If we put on a new shirt, we are changed in the attire we are wearing. We are changed if only in that one infinitesimal way.

When we eat we are changed from being hungry to being satisfied. We are changed if only in that one infinitesimal way.

When we lay down at night we are changed from being awake to being asleep, and when we rise in the morning we are changed from being asleep to being awake. We are changed if only in that one infinitesimal way.

Is not every choice, and thus every action, in some fashion a change?

Are we not changed, however imperceptibly, by the consequences of our choices and our actions?

Are we not challenged by the consequences of our choices and actions to self-correct, that we might keep to whatever path we are called to walk?

As I have observed before, distractions and discouragements are all around us, yet despite them we remain called to walk whatever path God has laid out for each of us.

Keep Moving Forward Along That Road

We strive, we get distracted and discouraged, we stumble, we fall…and then we get up again and rededicate ourselves to walking our chosen path. This is the nature of the lives we live, and the world in which we live. This is the challenge we called to embrace day by day, moment by moment.

Are we not therefore called to constantly be born again? I believe we are.

Is not the transformation that begins when we are baptized with both water and the Holy Spirit something that continues on throughout our lives? I believe it is. I believe it has to be.

We do not stop studying the Bible merely because we are “saved” and “born again”. Quite the contrary, once we embrace the salvation offered by Jesus Christ we are called to study God’s Word ever more intently, and ever more deeply.

We do not stop contemplating how to live up to God’s expectations of us merely because we are “saved” and “born again.” Quite the contrary, we are called to be ever more mindful of how we might do better in measuring up to God’s expectations of us.

We do not stop growing merely because we are “saved” and “born again”. Quite the contrary, we are called to grow in new and challenging directions as we walk a path of faith.

We do not stop studying. We do not stop contemplating. We do not stop growing.

Therefore we cannot stop being born again…and again…and again. Nor should we ever want to stop being born again…and again…and again.

If we truly embrace the transformation of accepting the forgiveness and redemption that is given to us by Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary, then we also accept that we will not stop being transformed as we step into each new day, and even each new moment.

Jesus tells us that we must be born again to see the Kingdom of God, and indeed we must. Each day we must be born again…and again…and again, or one day we will not see the Kingdom of God.

To be born again is to embrace change and transformation. Therefore it must be that, once we are born again, we will continue to be born again…and again…and again…throughout the remainder of our lives.