I realized decades ago that the adolescent baptism of my youth provided a sense of spiritual “security”, of possessing a ticket into heaven that would never be taken away. It was a sweet, tender surrender of a childish emotional affection for the idea of Jesus Christ as Savior. However, there was insufficient follow up, a failure to prepare me for the multitude of additional surrenders that would be necessary as I grew into other aspects of my life in the decades to come. Eventually, that day came and the real work of learning to live as a Christian began. Thank God! He knew the years that would lie between the two conversion experiences and how much more potent for life in the here and now the second would be.
