WALKING IN SPIRIT: A New Start

1 Peter 3:21; “And this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also; not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

A few weeks ago a friend of mine invited me to their church. They were getting baptised and they invited me to attend and witness them going through this solemn ceremony.

I arrived at the venue a little earlier, as I sat in the car, I witnessed all sorts of people trooping by. All these people were different in size, colour, age, sex and mannerisms, but they all had one common characteristic, they all looked happy. Actually they were beaming. At the start of the ceremony the pastor would take each candidate and ask them to profess their faith, immerse them in water and declare them baptised upon coming out of the water after having been fully immersed.

The ceremony was solemn, yet it was a joyous occasion because every candidate was freely confessing their need for renewal. They all wanted to start life again; they were all cognisant that regardless of their various age profiles and the diversity of their races and backgrounds, they shared this common goal, to be washed anew in Christ.

We all make mistakes in life, things go wrong and we do things that we regret. We are all different and therefore we deal with our mistakes differently. However, we all tend to have one common trend, we all realise and acknowledge when we have done wrong. Our internal indicators for identifying and accepting wrong tend to be the same.

Each one of us, regardless of how tainted our conscience, gets to the point where we feel bad about having done wrong. We might prolong the admission for a long time, we may even look happy, but something far greater than we know is urging us to stop and start again. It speaks to the very core of our souls.

Regardless of where you are or what you have done, you too can turn over your life and start again. We all need more than ourselves to be able to lead balanced, happy and faith filled lives. The challenges that we all face are best tackled in the confines of the cradle of love, the love that the Father is extending to us.

Happy new beginnings, be the person you know you should be.

Be blessed.