Pastor Lee Griess recounts a childhood memory of having a little, old motorcycle. It was primarily designed for off-road use, but sometimes he'd ride it on the streets of the town where he grew up. Going twenty miles an hour (because that's as fast as the old thing would go) down the smooth streets in town was pretty boring. There wasn't much risk involved in that. But when he'd take that old scooter and go zipping off road, into the deep weeds, down twisting dirt trails, dodging trees and bushes — places where there was some risk of falling and going out of control — then riding became an adventure.

The same can be said for living a life of faith. It's when we face our fears and take a risk that we experience the thrill of following Jesus.  For faith and risk are intertwined. It is only when we stretch the horizons of our lives, it is only when we venture away from the comfortable to follow Christ that faith takes on its true dimension. That's what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus. You must be born again. You must risk a new beginning. You must trust yourself to a new birth in God to truly be part of the kingdom of God. As long as you hold on to the old, as long as you are afraid to follow, as long as you are unwilling to risk your life for God, you will not be part of God's great adventure.