The Good Far Outweighs the Bad
It was within my first couple of months of ministry. In my 'amazing creativity' I came up with an idea for an obstacle course called "The Goliath" for our outside service called the Last Blast. It was a run through the woods with jumps, monkey bars and tires. Everyone seemed to love the idea. I was on cloud nine! I felt as though this really generated some enthusiasm and people really enjoyed it.....until sadly, someone got injured. One of our teens (at the time) fell off a monkey bar ladder obstacle (in retrospect, not very safe). Immediately the course is shut down, there's a crowd gathering and my 'amazing creative' idea was now 'a liability'.
Earlier in the day, to start my 'cloud nine' feeling, I was blessed with this incredible memorable moment where I got to baptize my beautiful daughter, Sadie. I was so proud of her! Here she was at this young age, willing to go public with her faith in front of hundreds of people! What a moment! I was ecstatic! Fast forward 2 hours later, someone gets hurt and I'm deflated.
The ups and downs of this day taught me so much. First of all, this is life. This is life with Christ as well. Some of us feel as though once we accept Jesus into our hearts, life becomes easier. Not necessarily. Although deep down at our core I do believe it does. When we, as believers, understand that through Christ this world is temporary and we have eternity to look forward to, it really should change our perspective. Our highs and lows in life are not forever and through them we learn so much.
Another thing I learned that day was the eternal outweighs the worldly. Yes, someone got hurt at this obstacle course and I did wonder if I'd lose my job or even if we'd face a lawsuit (the girl who fell is a sweetheart and handled things incredibly!) but the eternal perspective was that my daughter was just baptized! Although young, I truly felt and still do feel that she loves Jesus. We all know that this is not easy today in a world that continues to push God away and wonders why this world is falling apart.
Everyone of us should think with eternity in mind. Otherwise, life can certainly get you down.
Easter is coming! We get to celebrate a risen God....what other religion can boast this? A resurrected Savior! The Hope of the world. This Easter we also get to celebrate life change where others, like these pics show, go public with their faith and be baptized. There's reason to celebrate!
2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
What decisions are you making today based on eternity? Is this Easter the time for you to make the best decision of your life and go public with your faith through baptism?
