REBIRTHDAYS

Brandon Trotter, Bearspaw Associate Pastor

It's January 30 as I sit down to write this week's To the Pointe, which is a pretty big day for my family. 15 years ago, on January 31, 2010, God captured my heart and I gave my life back to Jesus. For those who haven’t heard my story, I grew up Catholic, but walked away from the church and from God in my late teens. I lived far from Jesus for several years until my girlfriend (now wife) started bringing me to church. Through the perseverance of a beloved saint, I started to understand God’s love and goodness and realized I wanted to live my life for Him.

And nearly one year later, on January 30, 2011, my fiancée (now wife) Bri and I were baptized together at Bearspaw. Ever since then, we've celebrated this day as our "rebirthday." It's the day we were born again to new life. Which, if we think about it, is even more important than our physical birthday.

Do you remember the day you gave your life to Christ and chose to follow Him? For some of us, that day is so far in the past, or we were so young at the time that there's no way we can have specific memories of it. Like my kids, you may have been a small child when you welcomed Jesus into your heart. That’s okay. In fact, it’s wonderful that your life was full of godly people who led you to Jesus at such a young age.

For others, that day may be fresh in our minds, vivid in detail and emotional in memory. This isn't better or worse. Each of us has our own journey, our own story, or own relationship with God.

How about your baptism? Do you remember standing in front of your church family and declaring the fact that Jesus is your only Saviour and your desire to follow Him throughout your life?

I ask these questions because I believe that it's important to remember what God has done in our lives. As humans, we can be forgetful. But if we forget what Jesus has done for and in us, we can start to lose our focus on living for and with Him, and our love can grow cold.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17:

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

We are new people because of our rebirthdays. No matter what happened before, no matter how much trouble we were in, no matter how much hurt we had walked though, Jesus has made us new. And He invites us to live into that newness each and every day of our lives.

This week, I invite you to spend some time thinking about your salvation and how it affects your life today. Fight back against forgetfulness. And if you know the day you were saved or baptized, maybe make some plans to celebrate God’s goodness to you on that day.

Because new life is always worth celebrating.