Good morning! My name is Elisheva. As most of you know, I have the privilege of growing up in a believing home and church. Both of my parents are believers, and from one side of the family I am the fifth generation Christian. My dad holds a family Bible study every weekend, through which he has taught me a lot over the years. God has also put many wonderful religious elders in my life, such as Teacher Gabie, Mrs Lee, Teacher Jeannie, Teacher Helen, Pastor and Mrs Wilson, and many more. Through their teachings, I understood Christianity from an academic perspective. However, while knowing Bible knowledge is great, it doesn’t automatically give you a personal relationship with God, nor does it automatically get you into heaven.
An early personal choice I had to make in regards to my faith came when I was 6, at Awana. For those who are unfamiliar, Awana is a program for elementary school-aged children to teach them about the Bible. After a long night of activities and memorizing Bible verses, the program leaders led us in a prayer to accept Jesus as our personal Savior. That prayer became the first step I took in building a personal relationship with God.
A major turning point came my freshman year of high school, when late on the night before Christmas Eve, The Holy Spirit made me realize that I am a sinner who has committed many sins. I felt like I had to tell someone. Fortunately, my mother was still awake, and I talked with her for a long time. She eventually led me in confessional prayer, and I felt a great peace after asking God for forgiveness. From that night on, I understood that not only did Christ die for sinners, He died for me—it became personal. By the end of the night, I wanted to be baptized, but did not follow through that year.
A year later, my mother brought me to a winter retreat (CCLiFe 2023 Gospel Conference) that I initially was not thrilled about going due to the major time commitment. I was also sick at the time. The first few days, I just went through the motions. I went to every session but did not want to be there. Then, on the last night, one of the speakers asked if there was anyone who wanted to receive Christ into their life, or anyone who had grown up in church but was not sure of their salvation, or anyone who had family members yet to receive Christ, and invited them to come to the front and pray. I realized that although I didn’t want to admit it, I didn’t want to stay unsure of my relationship with God and decided to receive Christ into my life again.
I kept “waiting for the right moment” for baptism, partially because I thought I needed some big event in my life to be sure I had a “reason” to be baptized and partially because I was afraid of giving a testimony in front of people. However, my mom and dad had always encouraged me to not look at people, but to look at G-d. I then realized that any fear is hindrance and does not come from G-d, “for G-d has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Thus, despite being nervous, as a follower of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, and as a child of God, I’m choosing to follow in Jesus’s example and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit because it is the right thing to do. I pray that the Lord Jesus will guide and keep me walking in His light throughout my life. Amen!
