And how does it compare to wearing glasses?

In John 3:3, Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

What does it mean to be born again?

The simplest way I can explain it is to compare it to wearing glasses for the first time.

Years ago, I visited an ophthalmologist. I was suffering from headaches and wondered if it had anything to do with my eyesight.

My vision was fine but when the doctor tested it he prescribed glasses to improve it slightly. I didn’t require glasses while driving but when I put them on, objects in the distance that used to be blurry suddenly came into clear focus. I couldn’t believe the difference!

I had thought that everyone saw the same way as me and that items beyond 20 feet were supposed to be out of focus.

That’s what it was like for me when I was born again. Spiritual things that didn’t make sense to me before suddenly came into focus.

I no longer just believed IN Jesus but I believed Jesus.

Jesus became my everything. I no longer regulated God to just a box called “faith”, but He became part of my parenting, my health, my finances, my work, my marriage. I invited Him into every aspect of my life. Not just a subject of study or a Sunday sermon, He became my world. He became my Saviour and my LORD. It changed the way I thought and the choices I made.

My faith was no longer a religion but rather a relationship.

To be born again means to have a spiritual transformation. Everything I had learned as a Christian became real. I had spiritual enlightenment, a spiritual rebirth.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3 NRSV).