Zzzzz... Is It Over Yet? – Riyandi Tan

I’ve grown up knowing about all the parables and Bible stories. From a young age, I’ve been exposed to Christianity and I’ve been going to Church for as long as I can remember. Although I went to Church, I hardly enjoyed it. It was boring for me, and I hated waking up early to get there. All throughout Sunday school I found myself wishing it were over. This disobedience of mine continued to stay with me as I grew up. All throughout sermons I found myself constantly bored and unable to absorb the information the preacher was preaching to us. Filling out the handouts and taking notes did not help much as all I did was throw it away after anyway. On top of all this, I had anger problems. I found myself upset and bitter about a lot of things, many of which I had no right to be bitter about. My parents taught me to pray, and I prayed before every meal and before I slept. One day at school, I was about to pray before eating my lunch when a classmate of mine asked me as to what I was doing. I couldn’t answer and I felt odd. As I grew older, bit-by-bit I started to pray less.

I thought about my life, and found I wasn’t living it the way I should.  God sent his Son to save us, and in return I slept through sermons, had bitter attitudes and was overall living a disobedient life. My chance came at Youth Camp, and it was there I turned my life over to God.

Baptismal class? This helped me renew my daily prayers, and I find myself praying not only before every meal but also in random places, not caring what other people think about it. Accepting Jesus, I realize now the importance of reading the Bible, having daily devotions, as well as communicating with God. I find myself able to wake up every Sunday, attentive and able to take the sermons to heart. There were times when I fell asleep during the sermons, and now as I look back, I feel nothing but shame. But the greatest benefit is that I am sure that I have eternal life.

Back to 2006 Easter Baptismal.