FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Street Hero”

Have you ever thought about how many decisions you make in a single day?  We’re talking everything from what to wear to school to who to eat lunch with to whether or not you go to the gym this afternoon and many, many more.  How may would you guess?  Hundreds?  Thousands?  My quick internet search pulled up a study in USA Today that said adults make an average of 35,000 conscious decisions each day, and children make about 3,000.

That’s a LOT.

Of course, most of them are pretty meaningless.  I mean, no one’s really going to impacted by your choice to have cereal for breakfast instead of french toast.  In fact, most people won’t even know…unless you spill syrup on your shirt.  The general public won’t notice that you chose to wear a ponytail, or that you decided to pay a little extra on your mortgage this month to help reduce your debt, or that you switched from ground beef to ground turkey to help your family get healthier.  (Ok, your family may realize that one, but no one else will.)  

Even the big decisions go unnoticed.  You bought a new car.  The cute guy in your science class asked you to go to prom.  You decided to start working out and get healthy.  No one will know any of that unless you tell them or they see you in the car, with the cute guy, or at the gym.  

It’s almost sad that some things that can change our lives so much are so unobservable.  Jesus thought so, too.  When a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to talk with Jesus late one night, the Savior tried to open Nicodemus’s eyes to what a relationship with God would really be like.  Have a family member read John 3:1-15 to see what He had to say.  

We must be born again to have a relationship with God.  Hmmm…that’s a little strange.  Or is it?

Have you ever seen a newborn?  They look noticeably different from anything else, right?  I mean, you would never confuse a six-month old and a six-day old.  Newborns are small, even the “big” ones.  Their skin is wrinkly and pink, and their eyes are kind of squinty.  They only make two sounds, one when they eat and one when they cry.  And they have that awesome new baby smell.  It doesn’t matter the nationality or gender or economic status—you can tell a newborn.

Jesus says that if we want to have a relationship with God, we need an experience that is like being born all over again.  Thankfully He’s not talking about diapers and bottles; He’s talking about starting life all over again, this time with hearts wiped clean from sin.  The decision to have a relationship with God, to ask Jesus to be your Savior is HUGE!  It’s one of those things that people should notice in you.  Just like you tell a newborn baby when you see one, your friends and family should be able to tell you’re a newborn—a newly born child of the one true King.  Making the choice to follow Jesus means you should talk differently than you did.  Your words will be kinder and more encouraging.  It means you should act differently.  Your deeds will serve others and show a love you didn’t have before.  It means you will think differently, no longer focused on what you want and what’s best for you, but instead thinking about what will bless God and others.  Being a child of God is a noticeable thing!

Do your friends and family know that you are a Christian?  Can they tell that you’ve been “born again” and restarted your life with Jesus in the lead?  Or are you living pretty much the same as you always did?  What kind of changes do you need to make so that others can see the new life growing inside you?  How can your family help you make those changes?

Maybe the thing you need to do is be born again.  Maybe you haven’t asked Jesus to be your personal Savior.  If not, talk with your family about your desire to have Jesus wipe your heart clean from sin.  Pray together, confessing your sins, asking for forgiveness, and claiming Jesus as your Lord.  Then talk about new decisions you can make to put Jesus first in your life.