This is the first experience in our encounter with the Lord; He was born in Bethlehem in order to give us the second birth through water and the Spirit.
In baptism, the old is buried and everything becomes new. In this holy sacrament we receive salvation from Christ. He gives us the new man and dresses us with a wedding gown and we become children of God, those who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
When the prodigal son left for a distant country delighting in the futilities of the world, the Lord Jesus, the Saviour, had His bosom open awaiting the return of the son with eagerness and kindness. The soul remains far from the green pastures to which the good shepherd guides it to rest, and so, the soul hungers and thirsts and the person finds himself in a void and isolation and in need of returning to the Saviour. Jesus the Saviour comes knocking on the door so that the soul awakens from its loss and sleep hence the only thing it can do is shout “have mercy”.
Say a single word: O Master help me so that I can begin. Glance at me O Saviour to strengthen me and I may rise. Grant me a touch my God that I may get up and hasten to return.
As the eye is filled with warm tears and the heart with sadness over the days eaten by locusts, the soul propels with joy because it is going through the repentance phase and the renewal of the covenant of salvation.
“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). In this, the spirit hears the sound of its saviour saying “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, In the generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, And wounded the serpent? Are You not the One who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea a road For the redeemed to cross over? So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. “I, even I, am He who comforts you” (Isaiah 51:9-12).
Rise O spirit and be enlightened, because your Light has come and the Lord’s glory has shone over you. It is an encounter which does great work in the life of the believer.
• Simon left everything after his encounter with the calling of love.
• Saul became dedicated to the service of the Word after his encounter with the Saviour.
• Moses the black became a monk and left the world after he learned the way, the truth and the life.
Every person whose heart has been entered by Jesus the Saviour and has had a real encounter is able to say with John the beloved “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us” (1 John 1-3).
