Baptism

I was baptized on Sunday July 25, 2010. I grew up learning bible stories, and hearing about the Lord, I began a personal relationship with Him 12 years ago, but it is only now that I have fully committed my life to Christ. I have been called like Timothy, to “fight the good fight”.

1Timothy 6:11-12 NLT

“ 11.But you, Timothy, belong to God; so run from all these evil things, and follow what is right and good. Purse a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12. FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT for what we believe. Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has given you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.”

I can not think of anything else worth fighting for.

I never really understood the importance of baptism, I knew they did it in the bible, but since I was born again in spirit 12 years ago, I figured I was “good to go”, but now I know that was yet another one of satans deceptions. A friend explained it to me so well “ it is like your marriage to Christ, yes you have already made that commitment, but it is importance to have witnesses to your commitment”. That made perfect sense to me! The 12 year battle to my full commitment to Christ was nothing short of exhausting. In fact it took 12 years of brokenness for me to finally begin surrendering my life to the Lord.

I know that people may not necessarily “feel” any different after being baptized since the decision to follow Christ has already been made, but I will tell you, 3 days later, I sure feel different.

The morning of my baptism I was exhausted, I had been coaching for 4 days at the summer games, in the most challenging coaching experience I have ever had (a story for another blog). By the time I got to church on Sunday I had already been coaching for 4 hours that morning, had little food, lots of caffeine, and was awaiting the results of the final race, needless to say my heart rate and anxiety level was pretty high. I couldn't focus during worship, the sermon was about Rest, which on more than one occasion God has been telling me about lately, but mostly I was worried about the fact that I didn't bring a towel.

I got up to the front said a short testimony, mainly about the amazing love God has been showing me, and then I was immersed under the water. It was such a cool experience, it was almost as if I could see myself being baptized, and the old me completely washed away. I came up out of the water and had an immediate feeling of absolute peace.

I received a mother and father's blessing, and so many words of life from others, I was made new, in God's love. I had a prophetic man come up to me and give me words, words that I have longed to hear in what seems like forever. It was something along the lines of “You have an adventurous spirit, that is God's adventurous spirit. He put that in you, He doesn't want you to sit safely in the harbor, He wants to you go out! He wants you to look for what you are searching for. You have a life of adventure ahead of you. This man also stated that he “hopes I never find what I'm looking for””. I think that could be taken as a discouragement but it certainly is not meant for that, it is so freeing! God has given me His encouragement, to follow my heart, He doesn't teach me obedience to keep me trapped, but rather to free me. I desire to live a great adventure, but not for worldly gain, but for the glory of the Kingdom!

I now for the first time in my life, know that I belong to something amazing, far beyond what I could write with any words.