My Birthday

Today is the day I celebrate my birthday. Not in the fanfare that many celebrate, usually it’s just another day with many good wishes from those I love, a few gifts, and a nice dinner.  Yet, to me, it is a reminder of the blessings from God and what is involved in having a birthday.

First, it means that God chose to create me! The God of all creation determined who would be my parents and all the physical characteristics I would have. Psalm 139 gives a beautiful picture of God’s care for us before we were born. He starts by reminding us that we are always in His presence. The omnipresent God knows everything about us. In verse 14, the psalmist breaks out in praise at the thought of how God created him. We are fearfully and wonderfully made means we were distinguished and separated from all other created beings. We are made in the image of God with great complexity. Thinking of how complex the human body is should lead me to the creator. I am unique from everyone else, and so are you.

Psalm 139:7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Psalm 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Second, I think about my parents. The ones God chose for me. I was very blessed to have parents who wanted me. They were not wealthy by any means. After spending 10 years in the military, my father was finishing up his degree in education while working to support a family of 5. We always had food on the table, a roof over our head, but mostly we had love. In our present world, many in those conditions would have chosen to have an abortion. I would have been an inconvenience at best, but my parents chose to love me and bring me into the family. Taking a life God created was never an option.

Third, I think of the miracle of birth. Of how God forms us and at the proper time our bodies know when we are ready to enter the world. I think of miracle babies like Isaac. In Genesis 17:17, we find Abraham, his father, on his face laughing when God told him he and Sarah would have a baby. Why, laughter? Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90! God had promised them many years before, that they would have a son, and even though they thought at this time in their lives it would be impossible, God always keeps his promises.

Genesis 17:17 “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

Genesis 17:19  “And God said, Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son; indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” 

Fourth, I think of the many who have children and don’t want them. This precious gift from God is to be loved and trained to love God. Proverbs 22:6 teaches us to train our children in the way they should go. We are responsible to teach them about the God who created them. Our greatest opportunity is to teach them so they can one day accept Jesus as their personal Savior, and live eternally in Heaven. I’m reminded of Hannah in I Samuel. She desperately wanted a child. In I Samuel 1:13, she is at the temple praying. She is so intense that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. She was promising God if he would bless her with a son, she would give him back to the Lord to be raised in the temple and serve there. God heard her prayer, and she kept her promise. She understood the blessing of a child.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

I Samuel 1:10-13 “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken.” 

Fifth, and most important, I’m reminded of my second birthdate. This was the day I ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins, come into my heart, and become the Lord of my life. This date filled my life with hope for the future, joy for each day, and a home in Heaven when I die. In John 4:3-6, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, who had probably sat with the leaders all day, and afterward seeks out Jesus. He wants to know how he can inherit eternal life. Jesus explains he must be born again. He didn’t understand how he could reenter his mother’s womb. Jesus explains this birth must be a spiritual birth. A surrendering of one’s self to the authority and love of God. This is a birth God wants everyone to experience, but unlike our first birth, we must make a choice. Jesus paid the price to redeem us back to the Father, but we must accept the gift, repent, and obey Him.

John 3:3-6 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” 

Finally, on my birthday, my desire is for you also to experience a new birthday. The birthday that will allow me to meet you in Heaven one day. Many of you are from countries I will never visit, but if you accept Jesus as your personal Savior and live for Him, I will one day meet you as my brother or sister for all eternity.