A New Beginning

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
1 Peter 1:3

I was born 62 years ago early on Thanksgiving Day.  My mom always said that I was “cold turkey”.

A few weeks later, on January 2nd, 1955, I was reborn in the waters of Baptism at this baptismal font in Trinity Lutheran Church.

It is great to celebrate a birthday on Thanksgiving.  Everyone gets together, I get all my favorite foods, and I am the only one getting gifts!  I do give thanks every year that God created me in my mother’s womb and I was born into this world.

But a far greater celebration is that I have been born again by the mercy of God into a living hope through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  With no conscious effort on my part, I was brought to the waters of baptism and God pronounced me one of His children.  I can just hear Pastor Mann saying, “Stephen Erwin Nickodemus, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  And God did His work.

Or I should say, God began a new work in me.  Day by day, year after year, His Holy Spirit is working in me, remaking me into His new creation, daily giving me new hope in my Lord Jesus.  No matter how many birthdays I celebrate, God will still be my Father, granting me forgiveness and mercy daily in the sure hope of the resurrection of His Son.

My mother and father are both gone now, as well as Pastor Mann.  One day, I too will throw off this “mortal coil” and pass out of this life.  But my place in heaven is assured for me in Jesus Christ, and there I will celebrate forever in a most amazing way, the new birth God has given me.  Praise God for every birthday!  Praise God for every re-birthday!  Amen.

Text and Picture Copyright Steve Nickodemus