Christian testimonies

Antony
Family and friends who know me well, upon hearing the news that I am to be baptised may pose the following question to me: "You have already been baptised as an infant and you took part in a confirmation ceremony as a teenager, so why get baptised again?"

I would reply: "My baptism as an infant was meaningless to me as it was my parents who made a number of promises on my behalf, all of which I had no knowledge and of which I, not them, have made much attempt to honour. When I look back on my confirmation, even though it was I who made the promises, I realise now that they were empty for there was very little change in my life and I continued to do as I pleased."

So what makes me think that I am ready this time round?

Well, from a young age I have known the existence of God largely due to compulsory attendance at Sunday School classes and, although I marvelled at the adventures and lives of the Biblical characters that were revealed to me time and time again, I never fully understood the significance of these event and the words of the Bible were supposed to have a dramatic and lasting effect on my life.

During my teens I did gain some insight into God’s words and understood that the Lord Jesus Christ had died on the cross to save us from our sins. This led me to some sporadic Church attendances and my eventual confirmation but there was no real time in my life for Christ. My philosophy remained unchanged: "Life is too short to waste so enjoy it to the full and, as long as you do no harm to others, then it is permissible!"

Even an horrific brush with death five years ago, when I was held up and shot at by highjackers armed with automatic rifles, did not move me to reflect on my philosophy. I consoled myself with the notion that Lady Luck looked favourably on me that day and I was just very fortunate.

All this was to change soon however, when, two and a half years ago, through the urge to travel abroad, Rochelle and I came to the UK [from South Africa] and, in need of cheap accommodation, took up

residence in a house-share in Amyand Park Road, St Margaret’s. We had noticed a small chapel in the same road and, more out of the need to appease my conscience than anything else (for I had not been to Church for a while), I decided to attend a service. From my first visit to APC I was hooked to God’s word (probably for the first time in my life) for it was revealed to me in a manner that I had never previously experienced and God’s people touched me with their warmth and sincerity.

With each subsequent visit my hunger to know more about the Lord Jesus and how He could change my life for me. Moreover, my interaction with the Christians in the Church gave me inspiration and guidance and I began to feel a oneness with them.

I continued to attend regularly as I wanted to find out more and some of the sermons reduced me to tears of shame when I realised how sinful and wicked I was and how I must have so distressed the Lord with my self-centred life.

I began to pray in earnest begging the Lord Jesus Christ to meet with me personally and forgive me for my sinful ways. I prayed that He would agree to be my personal Saviour and shortly thereafter I began to notice a gradual change come over myself. My life of old no longer seemed attractive to me and my awareness of wrongdoing was heightened. I realised too the infinity of God’s grace and love for me for it was only through His will and choosing that I found the path to freedom and eternity.

The Lord Jesus Christ has set me at the beginning of this path and, as I travel along it, I look over my shoulder and see the sinful life of old diminishing into the darkness and, in front of me, the bright light of the Lord’s way guides me through the pitfalls of the Wicked One and on to eternal glory.

I am indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ for the rest of my life for He has removed the veil before my eyes and shown me the light of His loving and saving grace. He has given me a gift, the gift of eternal life, that no other can surpass and I cannot imagine to what doom I would have blindly led myself had He not intervened.

In the words of my favourite hymn: "I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see."