Nowadays, Halloween is one of the most important dates in the holiday calendar; much is said about this celebration, origin of its name, its Celtic origin, Roman tradition, Cristian tradition, its expansion to North America and its roots, its globalization, its current state, components, food, trick or treat. And just as Halloween is celebrated today, so are other holidays.
I am someone that is not much into parties; actually, there are few things I celebrate. Some of these are birthdays, important life events, successes, the Lord’s day, victory over death, and Jesus’s resurrection, to mention a few. A day like today, October 31st, 1993, I finally understood who I really was at the age of 16. On that day, I decided to be born again; it was a Sunday; I still remember that day with detail; my confession, being immersed into the water, and the feeling of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, and much more.
Today marks 26 years since I’ve been following Christ and it hasn’t been easy, I’ve fallen, I’ve gotten up, I ‘ve been lost, I’ve been rescued and restored, I’ve tried to be a good son, brother, friend, servant, a good husband and father, to love God and love others. Every day I struggle and put great effort into continuing to run the race toward the goal. Above all this, God, His Son and Holy Spirit, continue to work in my life on that process of transformation.
There are many Bible scriptures I like, others that are important and those that are fundamental.
Some of those scriptures are in Genesis-the story of creation, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph; in Exodus the story of Moses. Deuteronomy 6:1-9 “These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind then on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” The book of Joshua-the story of Rahab, Naomi, David. Songs of Songs, Isaiah 53-Daniel, Mary and Joseph, Jesus’s birth, the gospels- Mathew 5, Mathew 28, John 1, the Samaritan woman, the good Samaritan, Acts 1-2 -the story of Stephen, Saul, the story of the young man who fell asleep while Paul taught the Word, the missions, Romans 6, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the letter of James, especially 4:17 “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them”. As well as the letters of John, and the New Jerusalem.
Today is a day of celebration for me. A day of redemption, to celebrate hope, God’s grace and forgiveness, to celebrate the power of God to bless, the power to be transformed, to remember the past and what no longer is, to glorify and continue on His path, to invite you to be born again, to remember that day, if is your case, to remember your covenant with God and live and walk the way Jesus walked. CELEBRATE the Great I AM!
