Monday, October 05, 2009

Pre- and Post-baptism Thoughts

Some time prior to Baptism I started thinking to myself: What if after going through it, I don't feel different or what if after going through it, nothing changes? I did not want the whole experience to be just that - an experience.

As I sat there thinking, I felt God impress upon my spirit these thoughts encouragements: For any change that is to come, it would not be by my own attempts to change because I've tried to change through will-power and it does not last long. Any change to come will be a fruit of the spirit. It would only be through His grace that I can change and no amount of will-power can cause an effective, definitive change. I rested in the assurance that the heart transformation that I desired was not something dependent on my own actions but it is something that the Holy Spirit will manifest in my life.

Even as I type this I realize how effortless the change is going to be because even now, just day two after getting baptized, I personally see some changes in my personal life, in my desires, in my way of thinking. Slowly but surely, the work that He has begun is progressing with a different life. It's really inexplainable.

-----

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:1

No comments: