So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:38-39)

What Day Changed Your Life?

Many hallmark moments change the direction and course of life. The birth of a child, the first day of school, graduation, marriage, or a new job. Great events may mark a turning point in a person’s life, like surviving a catastrophe, becoming wealthy overnight, learning a dreaded disease is cured or in remission, or facing an uncertain future. Many factors lead to a time in life when a person can say with deep conviction that an event changed their lives for good. Getting married and bringing children into the world is at the top of the list of the most impactful decisions a person can make in life. Still, they pale compared to the single, most important, enduring, and consequential decision anyone can make. All men are created in the image of God, and no decision is of greater importance than becoming a child of God. This one decision has the greatest consequences of any decision made in life because it has to do with life after death.

If there is one day that should change the course of life, it is the day a man becomes a child of God. Realizing the hopelessness of living without God moves men to seek His will. Conversion is not an intellectual transference of a righteous soul to the glory of God. Obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ begins with the knowledge that a man is an enemy of God, a curse, a vile and sinful creature worthy of the wrath of God. The psalmist aptly calls the state of man to be that of a worm. That is the highest a soul can seek with any honor about being a created thing before the Almighty Creator of the universe. A man does not become a Christian because he is a good person or a man doing very well in his state of existence. The only thing a man can grasp for standing before the mercy seat of the Lord is to beg for mercy and kindness in the face of an angry God. Every man deserves to go to Hell, and this is without exception because every man has sinned and fallen from the grace of God.

Grace has allowed man’s feeble frame to approach God’s holy throne and beg for mercy and forgiveness. Jesus did not die because all men deserved His righteousness. The putridity of sin permeates every fiber of man, making him a loathsome and unworthy creature. Yet, God, in his rich mercy, gave His only begotten Son to die for all men. The Son of God came to earth, and His creation tortured and killed Him. Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive those at the cross, and no one deserved it. The Father gave hope to mankind when He brought Jesus from the dead. For two thousand years, the gospel of salvation has been ringing all over the world calling for believing souls to accept the mercy of God. The love of the Father for rebellious man was found in the love of the Son of God, who died for all men.

The greatest day in the history of humanity was early on the first day when Jesus rose from the dead. This would become the hallmark of remembrance for believers in Christ who gather each first day of the week to honor God in worship. For the life of the individual, the most incredible day is the day they became a Christian. The man from Ethiopia had been searching for answers, and God sent Philip to teach the story of Jesus to him. As Philip opened the scroll of Isaiah and preached Jesus to the Ethiopian, a change took place. The Ethiopian realized that Jesus had died for him and that joy and hope were found in obedience to the gospel. He demanded the chariot to stop and for Philip to baptize him for the remission of his sins. The two men went down into the water where Philip immersed the Ethiopian, washing away his sins. What happens next changed the life of the Ethiopian. He went on his way rejoicing. His life would never be the same. The Holy Spirit says nothing more about the man from Ethiopia, but what is known is that his life was changed. It marked a turning point and a change of life.

Has obedience to the gospel changed your life? Do you know the day you became a Christian? Has that day marked a significant transformation in how you think, how you talk, and how you live? When someone asks what day is your birthday, can you remember when you became a child of God? Knowing what day a person is born into the world is not that important because next to a date of birth is a date of death. Remembering the day a person is born again in Christ is the most important because living a faithful life of obedience will usher in eternal life. No day is as important as the day a man rises from the waters of baptism with his sins washed away. That is the moment of birth, and that is a day to remember.