Happy Sabbath, friends! We all have a past – one that we may not be proud of, one we wish could disappear. But today, I want to remind you that God’s forgiveness is bigger than your history, and His invitation to start new is still open.

For three years of my life, I drifted far from the Lord and became deeply rooted in the world. When I look back, I sometimes wish I could undo it all – but life doesn’t give us a rewind button. What it does give us is grace.

And grace says this:
It is never too late to give your life to God again – whether it’s the first time or the seventh.

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Scripture Reminds Us: God Still Calls Us Back

“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
Acts 22:16 NIV

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise… He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9 NIV

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him…”
Luke 15:20 NIV
(The Father still runs toward us.)

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Why Baptism Matters – And Why Timing Is Personal

In the Seventh-Day Adventist faith, we believe baptism is a choice of the heart – not a date on the calendar, not something forced, not restricted by age. It happens when you’re ready to let Jesus lead your life.

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved…”
Mark 16:16 NIV

“Those who accepted his message were baptized…”
Acts 2:41 NIV

“See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” … “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
Acts 8:36–38 NKJV

When the heart says ‘yes,’ the water is ready.

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My Story – Why I Chose to Be Re-Baptized

By the time you’re reading this, I will have been re-baptized.
I was first baptized in 2012, but life took me on a detour. I wandered. I fell. I returned home. And when I did, I sensed God saying:
“It’s time to make your commitment public again.”

Not because my first baptism “expired.”
Not because I needed to earn anything.
But because God washed my heart first – and now I wanted the world to know.

This re-baptism is my release of the past and my declaration of a new life.

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What Baptism Does to the Past

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death… so we too may live a new life.”
Romans 6:3–4 NIV

“The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

“All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Galatians 3:27 NIV

“…not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.”
1 Peter 3:21 NIV

Baptism doesn’t just rinse the surface – it buries the old you and raises a new life in Christ.

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Identity After Baptism: Child of God

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”
Galatians 3:26 NIV

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body…”
1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV

“Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:3–4 NIV

Your past no longer gets to name you.
Grace gives you a new name: Child of God.

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A Prayer for You

I pray that if your past still clings to your identity, you will surrender it to the Lord. Whether your renewal is private or public – whispered or witnessed – God honors every sincere return to Him.

He doesn’t care what your past looks like.
He cares about what your now and your forever look like.

Choose Him today – and let Him transform you into His beloved child.

Amen.