This is the month of one of my favorite holidays. I not only enjoy the festivities and traditions, I value the reason for the celebration. It can be one of the hottest months of the year, a real scorcher, at times even the shade is too warm for relief. It’s a busy month. A time when families travel, educators and students begin counting down days and businesses gear up for a strong finish. Yet one day alone brings the entire country together for celebration and recognition. The fourth of July is a time for demonstrating our freedom and exhibiting our thanks for those who’ve sacrificed for that privilege.
This year, I added an additional day of celebration. On July 5, 2013 I was baptized. I took the plunge and got dunked! It’s been many years since I accepted Christ as my Savior. I actually attended elementary school at a private church school and went to chapel five days a week. Before that, I was baptized on Valentine’s Day as an infant. Yet, I knew something was missing.
I’d contemplated a submersion baptism for many years, decades in fact. I remember my first time in a church with a baptistery. At my inquiry as to what it was, a young cousin, amazed that I had never seen one, loudly verbalized, “You mean you’re not a Christian?!?” He was quickly shushed by his mom. But his comment got me thinking and kept me thinking for years.
Was I Christian? How did I know? How did I let others know? My journey of discovery and inquiry took me down many paths and peeled away many layers. One of the most difficult challenges to face and overcome was my legalistic way of thinking. After all, I’d been baptized as a child. That’s all it took according to my upbringing. Yet, I was still drawn to the water.
After tremendous prayer, wrestling until I was worn out and getting emotional every time I witnessed a baptism for the last two years, I took one more step. I opened up and began sharing and discussing my quandary with others. That was a definite step of faith for me. To risk admitting my struggle with believers raised in both protestant and non- protestant religions was unfamiliar ground for me. (I don’t tend to like unfamiliar.)
What came as a result of my inquiries and obedience? FREEDOM! Freedom like I’ve never experienced before. I made a public declaration of my belief, gratitude and commitment. My baptism represents a choice. A choice to follow, honor and celebrate a sacrifice made for me like none other. My life verse is 2 Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
As a nation we celebrate our freedom together one day a year. As a new creation I celebrate my freedom every day.
