John 3:1-5

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 and said to him, “Most assuredly, 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, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

What does it really mean to say, “The kingdom of God?”  It seems as though we interchange the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven but in the Bible are those two phrases the same?  Is it like saying potatoes or po-ta-toes?  OR could Jesus have really been telling us two different aspects about the same place, one being internal and the other physical?

Years ago, it was placed on my heart that the kingdom of God is within you but the kingdom of heaven is a real place.  If we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior the kingdom of God can rule and reign within us, giving us access to the kingdom of heaven.

My firm belief is that in order to embark upon the things of the kingdom of heaven Jesus is clearly telling us that we truly have to be born again.  In other words, we have to be able to accept Him as our living Savior and have a change of heart.  There has to be a circumcision of belief, attitude and perspective in our thinking, in our actions and in the way we now live our lives.  We can accept the kingdom of God within our hearts if we choose to.   

I thought I had accepted God and thought I knew who Jesus was from a very early age.  But, my actions and life certainly did not mirror a new life in Christ.  It was not until my late thirties that I knowingly and willingly knelt and asked Jesus to come into my heart and save my soul.  My life began slowly to take on a new form.  But, it was not until I had walked up and into the kingdom of God within myself that I truly felt born again.  I believed I had been given a second chance to live on earth with a cleansed heart and mind. 

The kingdom of God is within a soul and it is as tangible as any emotion I have ever felt.  From this kingdom of God within me, I am able to access the kingdom of heaven through the full power of the Holy Spirit. 

That is why Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).  It is only through being born again that one can truly access the things of the Spirit.

All that has been on my mind this past two weeks is Time.  When something comes upon my spirit so heavily, I know that it is from God.  So here we go. I have just folded a basket of laundry and I am trying to figure out where my time goes.  I know that I get up early and go to work.  I know that it takes me about two hours a day to drive back and forth to work.  I know that I have to eat dinner and shower.  But honestly, where does my time go? 

When I was a child back in the sixties in Ohio, time didn’t matter.  I don’t ever remember worrying about running out of time or if I got everything accomplished that I needed to do.  I was a child!  We played, went to school and just had fun.  I thought that life would continue on this way forever.  As a child, you never think of bills, rent, mortgages, jobs and stress.   

When I got out of high school and got a job, I learned responsibility and one was how to make car payments.  Time didn’t matter.  I put my 8-5 in and then it was off to hang out with friends.  The only thing that I was concerned about was my curfew.   

Then I met my husband.  We had two girls and time became non-existent.  When they were little, it was about diapers and bottles.  Then time was all about being up half the night with earaches or bellyaches.  As they got older, it was horseback riding, girl scouts, slumber parties or softball.  Run, run, run.  It went from not using my time wisely to where did the time go?  At that point in your life you think, “When the children are grown, I will have all the time in the world.”  Those actually were the good old days but that is another story. 

So I am in the present now.  It seems like just a few days ago I was saying, “Boy, it is the end of June already.”  Well, now it is mid-July.  Where has the time gone?  I tell myself that I need to call my parents more, I need to email certain people and I need to exercise.  I would love to volunteer!  I come home from work with high expectations of getting a lot done and here I sit.  I wonder where my evening went.  I didn’t accomplish anything.  Our time is flying by.  This has amazed me more and more.  I get up on Monday and hope that Friday comes quickly for the weekend.  I am ashamed of myself for not living each day fully.  I feel like I wish my life away.  Even more so, I am ashamed of the lack of time that I give God every day.  I come home with the grand idea of opening my iPad and watching the religious program that I missed today.  Some days I accomplish this but not every day.  Do I give enough of my time that I am wishing away to God?  Absolutely not!   

I know better than anyone does that our time here on earth is limited.  Time is ticking away and so are the days, months and years.  At some point, we will be held accountable for doing something or nothing.  We as God’s children cannot afford to waste our time anymore on unimportant things.  Tick-tock goes the clock.  Another day is over.  What have WE done today?