Baptized.
Dead to sin and brought up into new life.
How are we to speak truth to others without really knowing it ourselves?
I was baptized for the first time when I was about 7 or 8. I remember it pretty well. My parents were pastoring a church in the leasing office of an apartment complex at the time and we used their pool for baptizing. I can remember my dad telling me to hold my nose as he recited the the prayer over me while I went under the water. I knew what I was doing meant that I was showing everyone I was a christian but I didn’t know the depth of that commitment. I mean shoot, I was only in 2nd grade. All I knew was that I said the sinners prayer and that made me a “Christian”.
I lived as what I thought was a Christian, for most of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I had the occasional slip up with friends or whatever but I tried to live a good life. I was in church pretty much every Sunday. Its easy to be involved in church when you grow up in it. I sang on the worship band, helped with outreaches and even volunteered in the nursery. By the looks of it, i had it all down. I mean like i said before i had some issues, but what teenager doesn’t? But by me doing all those things, didn’t make me a Christian. It didn’t mean I was truly SAVED.
All believers have the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit as the personal power for living to please God.
Please God, not yourself.
When you say that sinners prayer, your asking God to come into your heart to forgive you of your sins and become Lord over your life. Lord over your life. Do you understand what that means? You are dead to yourself and alive in Christ. Who further more, you must give complete control over all areas of your life.
Ahhhh!! Does that speak to you like it does me?
When we give ourselves to Christ, we must die to ourselves. Just like being baptized.
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like this.” Romans 6:4-5.
When we go under the water, we are dying to our sins, our pride, selfish desires and then brought up into a life of Christ. A new life, new beginning to be like Christ. To be a Christian is to be like Christ. In every thing we do, every person we talk to and every step we take to be like our Lord Jesus. We are alive because of Him, we can breathe because He gives us the ability to take a breath.
I re-dedicated my life to Christ on October 3rd 2010. On the same day I got baptized and died to my selfish ambitions and desires and became alive in Christ. I made a commitment to make a conscience effort in living my every day life to be more and more like Christ. It will be hard. It will take my constantly getting over myself, but my God is so worth it. I was brought to life in Him, because of Him, for Him.
What’s even cooler… Is the fact that I got baptized in a waterfall in the middle of a jungle in Thailand. What better way to finally realize how awesome my God is? 🙂
