“Jesus answered, ‘ I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.’” John 3:5-6
Almost 9 years ago my daughter Brook asked me to be her “birth coach” when her first child was born. We trained and prepared together anticipating the birth of her son, my first grandchild, Noah. My daughter, Erin, and I were at her side coaching and Janie was there encouraging. When Noah was born (of water and flesh as Jesus said), we were there. They lived with us for the first five years of Noah’s life. We lived together, prayed together, played together, vacationed together…whatever we did, it was almost always together. This past Sunday, Noah made his public profession of being born of the Spirit and was baptized.
When Brook and Jerry were married, my first question was about Noah. Does he have to leave too? I may have felt more empty nest feeling about Noah leaving than I did my own three children…as much as I loved and still love them. If you are not yet a grandparent, don’t fool yourself…it is different. I watched as Noah began asking spiritual questions about God, being baptized and accepting Jesus. He had been loved by great preschool teachers, children’s Sunday School teachers, VBS and camp counselors as well as by a loving family.
For Noah to say he had accepted Jesus into his heart and wanted to be baptized was a blessing beyond my already answered prayer. The answer to one of my greatest prayers had happened 9 years earlier. Living to see my grandson accept Christ and me being able to baptize him…well that was like God showing off. It was answered prayer and then some.
Now, through a wonderfully complicated series of events, Jerry, (Noah’s dad and Brook’s husband) also had accepted Christ as his Savior and confessed his desire to be a follower of Jesus. So, last Sunday, the James Island Baptist Church baptized 7 precious souls into the family of God. Among them… my grandson Noah, and his dad, my son-in-law, Jerry.
Let’s see…is there anywhere else I would rather be or anything else I would rather be doing? I can’t imagine. On the other hand, I have a great Father who can do abundantly more than I can ever imagine! The Spirit gives birth to spirit. Can’t wait to see what He does next.
Pastor Tom
