I was a dreamer – always dreaming for something new to do. I dreamt to paint like Picasso. I hoped to cook like Martin Yan. I wanted to be a designer like Chanel. And I aspired to be brave like Joan of Arc!
I was also a person with many hobbies. Needless to say, not many things went far or deep with me. My interest in those hobbies did not last long. I was a restless soul – always searching for something new.
When I looked at the sky, it is so wide, so long and so high. It is limitless and boundless. At night, I saw the countless stars flickering away. My dreamy and restless soul yearned for more in life. As I pursued meaning and newness in life, lo and behold, I discovered I was being pursued!
Psalm 139:7-12 (ESV)
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
My restlessness in life “met” with God’s relentless pursuit. God is in the heavens; He is in the depths. If I flee with the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, God is there with me.
And God is here today, with us. Standing beside us. Seated beside us. His hand is bidding us to come to Him.
Will you take His hand?
Will you let Him lead you in your life?
Let God hold you close to Him.
Let Him make your nights bright as day and even darkness is as light with Him.
That is why today we rejoice with the baptism candidates who have made the decision to take God’s hand; to let God lead them in their lives and to let God hold them close to Him. And today, they also choose to share their commitment and their allegiance to God with the Body of Christ.
Romans 6:3-4 (ESV)
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead on the third day by the glory of God that we too might walk in newness of life! Every day I am learning who this God is and experiencing this new life in God.
My whimsical dreams or my longing for newness in life have finally found their peace and home in Christ. He has turned my dreams and longing into sure and certain hope. Hope that is found in Christ which is new life in Christ.
There is nothing new under the sun, but all things new in His Son.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Will you turn to Christ and will you also let Christ turn your life anew today?
By Amy Ong, Pastoral Staff (YCKC Bulletin 7 May 2017)