Today makes one year.
One year following the conclusion of my preliminary studies of the Bible. You know — the ones that made me realize I had a lot more studying to do.
12 months since I wrote my letter to God – telling Him why I wanted to be baptized.
365 days since I publicly declared, “Jesus is Lord.”
Today is Brad’s and my Spiritual Birthday – or Birthday of our Baptism…
Let go and let God. I know it’s a saying that can be overused. But, it’s a pretty important thing to remember. If we truly have faith and believe that God’s got this and He is in control, then why would we need to hang on? If we do it for show, and just say that God is in control, but try to be a puppet master behind the scenes, then that’s really all it is – a show. Deep down we know it definitely wasn’t us.
We aren’t strong enough, or – let’s face it – smart enough to solve problems the way God can. Way too many times I find myself getting in God’s way trying to control and guide a situation. I wonder how many times my trying and my attempt at controlling something actually causes more work for God in the end… (If you have kids, you know how that one usually turns out.)
How frustrated should God be with me? I can just see Him shaking His head, with a sort of half-smile and a bit of sadness in His eyes, because this was supposed to be the time I actually submitted…
If I were Him, I would have put me in a time-out years ago… I thank Him every day for His patience.
Turns out, I have a really hard time letting go.
When I started thinking about this series, one of the freedoms that stood out to me first was the Freedom from Sin and Death. (If you missed yesterday’s post on Freedom from Burden, be sure to check it out, here…) Prior to becoming a Disciple, I had a general idea of what that meant. But, after studying more and digging deeper into the Bible, I realized I knew very little. And, I definitely was not thanking God enough for the amazing gift He gave to us…
Beginning in Sunday School, we are taught about Heaven, and the wonderful place it is. We are taught that Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, was crucified, and died for our sins. Then, he rose from the dead and now is with his Father, God, in Heaven. And, if we believe in Him, we can go there, too.
If you asked a random person on the street, I’d bet you’d get a similar recant of the information, without a lot of differences.
But, just because we know what happened doesn’t mean we know what it really means to us.
I lost a good chunk of time yesterday morning – I went shopping. Now, it wasn’t all for me – there were gifts that were needed, and some other household items. But, after I thought I was finished, I remembered a massive sale that was going on…
So, I ended up at a Christian bookstore that is going out of business. I still needed to purchase a gift, and thought I would check out what else they had before heading home.
