I’m taking a trip down memory lane today. It’s October 31st, which means it’s Halloween. Although I realize that believers have differing opinions about Halloween, I must admit that I am a sucker for fall decorations, kids in costumes and, of course, chocolate.
But I have another reason I view Halloween with fondness—one hardly anyone I know shares. I was baptized on Halloween. Yep. I know. Sounds kind of odd. Isn’t a baptism something you do on another less, oh I don’t know….demonic, holiday?
Maybe.
But for me it was the sweetest Halloween I’ve ever had. And the really wild thing is that I was ten—normally the age when costumes would trump confessing Christ as Lord by a long shot. It brings a smile to my face just remembering the day.
Halloween fell on a Sunday that year. We lived in Nashville, Tennessee, smack dab in the middle of bell bottoms and the Bible belt in the 1970’s. The city declared an ordinance that trick-or-treating would take place on Saturday evening so children wouldn’t have to stay out late on a school night and religious folks wouldn’t have to miss Sunday evening church service. (Does this sound as much like I lived in the dark ages to you as it does to me?) I can’t even fathom something like this happening now when soccer games don’t get moved for a Sunday, much less Halloween.
But I digress…
On October 31st of that year I had been a Christian—a real one, not the kind that believed just because my parents did, or because I was raised in the church—all of two weeks. The day I received Christ I was so excited about my decision that I purposely sat in the back of the church so I could walk all……the……way…….down…..the…aisle. This was back in the day of the Sunday morning “alter calls” and I wanted everyone—everyone—to know that I had decided to follow Christ.
On this, the anniversary of my baptism, I stop and ask myself, “Do I still?”
Do you?
If not, maybe we should pray the prayer that David prayed. “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.” (Psalms 51;12)
It’s good to take a trip down memory lane every once in awhile—especially if those memories spark holy enthusiasm for the future.
You may not have been baptized on Halloween. In fact, you probably weren’t. But, still, why don’t you pause right now and think back to the day you first knew God really, truly loved you? Back to the moment you felt forgiven. Back to the minute the light bulb turned on and you “got it”. Back to the day of your salvation.
I’ll bet it will make you smile
. 
