I Will Give You Rest

In my line of work the word regeneration has a specific meaning relating to Christian salvation. It is the re-birth that takes place in a person's life when they call on Jesus' name believing he is the one and only Savior and Lord.

As I was reading Vance Havner's book Lord of What's Left, I came across that word and automatically had that definition in my mind. Maybe he was talking about regeneration in that sense but the point of his writing seems to be something I need. But I'm already born again and the Bible does not teach the necessity or possibility of being born again again.

The chapter I just read talks about the days gone by when people had time to get to know one another. Life was different, slower. Neighbors knew each other. We don't have much time these days to reflect on the good things in our lives or meet our neighbors or enjoy our families.

When talking about times of escape or vacation, Havner writes that we are "refugees from progress who've brought it all with them." Certainly, I rarely go anywhere without my computer. The last time I left my phone in the car when I went into a store for a few minutes I felt like I was going to have a fit before I could get back to it. Refugees from progress, sure.

"The main trouble is we've brought ourselves along. Escaping from that character is difficult business. It means getting through to God and being regenerated."

For sure, a person who lives outside a personal relationship with Jesus Christ needs to be regenerated. That's his only hope of escaping from that character.

As a Christian, I have found myself wrapped up in the happenings of post-modernity and it sucks the vibrancy out of me.

Jesus spoke words that have great meaning for those of us in either situation. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Peter said this: "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

James wrote, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 4:10).

The way to escape the burden we refugees of progress bear is a right relationship with Jesus. Come to him. Repent of your sins. Humble yourselves before him.

We no longer live in the early 1900s. Those days are gone and will never return. Our lives are marked by a hurried-ness that threatens to keep the lost from being regenerated or the saved from living a regenerated life. But Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born again," so it must be possible. It is possible through Jesus Christ.