Yesterday was June 23rd and that’s a special day for me.
June 23rd is not only the date my youngest was born into this world, it’s also the date I died to it…
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:(Romans 6:3-5)
That day, now twenty-one years ago, marked the beginning of the second phase of my life. For the first fifteen years I was just a man, first safe under my Shepherd’s care, then a sheep who went astray through sin. Then, when I trusted Him (Mark 16:16), repented to Him (Acts 2:38), and confessed my faith in Him (Acts 8:36-37), I fulfilled His command to be immersed into Him (Galatians 3:27). From then on I’ve no longer been just a man; I’ve been a Christian. No longer was I a sinner, separated from God; from then on I’ve been a saint, placed by God into His sheepfold (Acts 2:47).
I came into this world from my mother’s womb on August 26th, 1984. I still celebrate that date on the calendar with a day off work and a slice of chocolate cake, but for the past twenty-one years, that date just hasn’t been as special. June 23rd, however, means something special to me. It’s the date I came into my Father’s Kingdom, being born of water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5).
Yesterday, before leaving for work, I wished my Joshua a happy sixth birthday, and celebrated with him over the date he came into this world from his mother’s womb. I reminded him, as I do every year, that we share a birthday, but mine is a spiritual one.
As he grows, matures, stumbles and falls, it’ll be my job as his dad to help him reach his better birthday someday, as I did.
~ Matthew