Pam's Path

Finding some old pictures scattered around Mom’s house did quite a number on me. Laying on top of the pile sitting by my computer is one of me as a 11 year old being baptized. Forrest G. Bailey is doing the honors in a lovely baptistry with a mural of a river behind us. At the time I thought it was like sort of like being in the Jordon River.

Forrest Bailey could quote the whole Bible, I think. He was the pastor at First Christian Church in Carthage, MO. More importantly to my family he was the one that intrigued my dad. Forrest would quote scriptures to prove what other scriptures meant so practically his whole sermon was scripture and King James scripture at that! I don’t recall him using notes. It was all from memory. No overhead, no electronic anything, just memory. Daddy didn’t really believe it at first. He would have me take notes during the sermon and later he would look them up to see if they really said what Forrest said they said. They always did! From there Daddy and Mom decided to take a class to learn more about the scriptures. The class was actually a Preacher Training Course. In their thirst for understanding and knowledge they were being trained to preach. Not at all in the plans my father had for his life! That is another story for another time.

I had just returned home from church camp. My mother asked me to wait until I could be at church with them if I decided to get baptized. I had a hard time waiting. The desire to do this thing was strong! All week I wanted to respond to this call. All week I told God and sang to God about how much I wanted to follow Him and serve Him with all my heart and all my life. Mom thought I should wait until I was 12 as that was the age Jesus went into the temple and talked with the Elders. It is the age of Jewish adulthood. I listened to her but thought I would burst if I had to wait that long. I had scriptures going through my head like “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” Acts 2:38. And Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so too we might walk in newness of life.” Most of all “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned” Mark 16:16. I knew these scriptures by heart, these and more. I wanted remission of sins (even though I really hadn’t sinned that much at such a young age!), I wanted to walk in a new life (even though the one I had wasn’t so bad), I wanted to be buried with Him in the waters of Christian baptism, and most of all I really wanted to be saved. I wanted to be in Heaven with Him someday. I really didn’t know all I know now about any of those things but I knew it was important….really important if I was a follower of Jesus. I didn’t know much about the Holy Ghost but I wanted it as to me it meant Jesus would live in me. I really wanted that!
So he baptized me “In the name of then Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost” and they sang “Now I belong to Jesus.  Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone but for eternity” I felt clean and pure, excited and happy. Really happy! I sang all day. I had learned that the angels rejoiced with me. How cool is that?
Much has happened in the years between then and now. That cleanness and purity vanished as my life veered away from His plans. There were times I doubted He would want me in Heaven with Him. Times I was ashamed and guilty of real sinning. I really didn’t follow Jesus like I planned on that day. I understood the scripture that says “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. I wasn’t alone but that didn’t really matter. I had fallen short of what I had committed on that day. Very short!
After all these years I can testify of the goodness of God and His plan. He knew I would fall so short. He knew I would betray Him and leave Him for a time. He knew the depth of sin I would sink to. He knew my innocence would be lost, my purity would be stained. He knew I would choose wrongly and follow others instead of Him. But, oh how He loved me through it all. I also knew the scripture that said  “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:1-10. Wow grace and mercy! Death to life! His workmanship! Seated in Heavenly places?? All because of Jesus the amazing God I serve. Yes, now I serve Him. I have put the things of the past behind me and am excited about the life I now get to live in Him. That little girl received Him into her heart and He stayed even through the tough times.