Being Born Again Is Not An Option By Pete BriscoeSample

For Reals

What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly. — Lao Tzu

Dottie liked her drinks and she was at the end. Like so many others, she looked for the relief from life’s problems at the bottom of an empty bottle. Of course, relief was always temporary. Drink after drink, the problems only intensified until the addiction could not be controlled. Her marriage was on the skids and life was coming apart at the seams. She had three beautiful children, yet thought, You know what? Maybe if we had another kid, our marriage will get better. So, they had a fourth child, a daughter. Bad idea. Their marriage got worse and worse. When the baby girl was about eight months old, they decided to separate and divorce.

For years Dottie tried to find truth. In college she studied all the great religions of the world. Nothing resonated. Shortly before the divorce was final, she was sitting on the porch of her empty house one quiet night. She turned on her old black-and-white TV and adjusted the bent coat-hanger antenna as she turned the channels. Click, click, click… She stopped when she heard the voice of a young man with a soft southern drawl speaking of new life, the “good news” that she could be “born again.” It resonated.

That night, Dottie bowed her knee to Jesus Christ. That was more than forty years ago, but if you were to run into her today, you would swear she met Jesus yesterday. A life transformed from the inside out, she is a beautiful example to me of what it means to be “in Christ.” 

Are stories like this for real? All I can say is that this one sure is for me. Dottie became a new person in Christ and today she is one of my closest, most respected friends. Her marriage was given new life as well.

And their eight-month-old daughter? She grew up and became my wife.

Jesus, I thank You that I am in You. Your Word says that if I am in You, I am a new creature, born again through the birth of my spirit through Your Spirit. I bend the knee to You now, surrendering all to You, releasing all to You, resting in You. I thank You for Your complete forgiveness and permanent presence. Live through me today to do what only You can do. Amen.