Bible Readings
Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:3-7)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Thought
Today is the Queen’s 94th birthday and for the first time in her reign she has chosen not to have the customary gun salute to mark the occasion as she feels it is not appropriate at this time, but hopefully she will still be able to celebrate in some quiet way the fact that she has reached such a good age. It also happens to be my eldest brother’s birthday today (a long way off 94) and I am sure that along with his wife and son they too will find some way of marking the event. All over the UK thousands of people will be acknowledging in some way or the other the fact that today is their birthday. For many it might be a far quieter celebration than they had planned this year and for some the absence of family or friends from a celebration will bring a tinge of sadness to their day.
The Queen of course has two birthdays, today when she turns 94 and an official birthday later in the year. Many people may feel that they would like two birthdays as well. As Christians we do indeed have two birthdays, for we have been born again. We have our birth day, the day when we were physically born and we have the day that we were spiritually born or born again, when we became part of the kingdom of God. We have much to be thankful for; as children of God we know that we are heirs of the kingdom of God and that fills us with a sense of peace that nothing on earth can take away from us.
We may not be able to celebrate birthdays or other events as we would wish at the moment, but we can rejoice that we are new creations in Christ, the old has gone and the new is here! Every day is like a birthday for us as we remember that we are born again.
Prayer
Loving Heavenly Father we pray today for our Queen on her birthday, may she be surrounded by your peace and love at this time.
We thank you that we are your children; that you love us and that by your Spirit we have been born again. We thank you for the new life we have in you and for your peace that you give us.
Amen