“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’ Acts 22:14-16
The new year is filled with resolutions that we plan to do differently. The sermon I heard this weekend talked about such things as well as preparing for your future. Reflecting on this, I heard my inner voice saying, “What about your past?” There was a lot of good in my past, but there was also the times where I was most distant from God. These were when I felt unworthy and ashamed of myself. That was where I was when I came to God; hopeless and humbled hoping to do some good. Then, I remembered getting in the water to be baptized. Apparently, the water was cold enough that I was vocalizing it, and my pastor at the time looked at me and jokingly said, “Man up.” As I rose up from the waters, my mother, who watching in the audience, said I raised my arms in victory. The moment signified my decision to follow Christ and that I was clean from sin. Forever. This is what I carry with me into the new year.
We should remember that through all our moments both good and bad, we are all made clean through Jesus Christ. I love this testimony by Paul speaking of his experience coming to follow Christ. We read in the early part of Acts when on the road to Damascus, Jesus spoke to Paul asking why was he persecuting Him, and how Paul met Ananias, who helped Paul regain his sight. Now, Paul gives his testimony detailing how Ananias told how his sins would be washed away by calling on the name of the Lord. We thus learn that no matter what we have done or where we have come from, we are free from sin's bondage through Jesus Christ. Like the calendar points out the change to a new year, we too are changed, and our sins are washed away if we call out to Him. This makes us new, and we must both put those things that drag us down away and move toward the future with our eyes fixed on the one who is pure, blameless, and the perfecter of our faith.
Through Christ, we have endless possibilities. We have been blessed by God's gift of grace. Our goal thus is to seek Him at all times humbly asking Him, “Oh Lord. Open my eyes to those things you want me to see, and let my heart ache for those things that break your heart. Help me to do your will and find joy in each and every moment I am with you.” As we start a new year, let us remember the new beginning we have been given. What do you need God to release you from today? What will you do with your new found freedom through Jesus Christ? My prayer is that we remember that our past sins have through Jesus Christ been washed away. Amen.
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