“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
??Matthew? ?5:13? ?NIV??
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was carrying shame and guilt for over ten year for partying the night before I was baptized and doing it for the wrong reasons. Being vulnerable about the deepest parts of my life has been hard, but it has been the number one cause for healing and growth on this journey. A weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, and I the Lord has revealed to me that there is redemption and healing. I don’t have to feel shame and guilt for my sins anymore because he has already forgiven me…I just needed to forgive myself. The next step for full healing was to get baptized for the right reasons! This time I knew I needed to get baptized in the ocean, at first I wasn’t certain why, except the beautiful scenery. Then once it happened, the Lord revealed it all to me.
I was baptized right where a fresh water river meets the ocean. I didn’t think much of it at first until my team mate Meg, pointed out how cool the spot was because we are the salt of the earth. I stood there for a while and observed the two bodies of water interacting with each other. I noticed how easy it was for the fresh water to pour into the ocean. The only way the salt water had a chance to get into the river was with the power of a wave. After a few minutes it all came together for me. The fresh water is a comparison to the world/worldly things, the salt water are christians, and the waves are Christ/God. Choosing to be a Christian is a daily choice to give up ourselves for the Lord, and battles we face can only be done with the Lord. It would be so much easier to be of the world like the fresh water slides so easily into the ocean. I’ve had everything I’ve wanted of the world and I say that living for Christ is much more fulfilling.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (?Matthew? ?16?:?24-26? NIV)
