Oh, happy day, oh, happy day, oh, happy day, oh, happy day, when Jesus washed - oh, when He washed, when Jesus washed - oh, when He washed, when Jesus washed my sins away, oh, happy day!

The Edwin Hawkins Singers

Then Phillp opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And when they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" and he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more,

and went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 8:35-39, ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

II Corinthians 5:17, ESV

 

Do you remember that day - the day you became a new man or a new woman? Perhaps you had been weighed down to the point where you simply could no longer bear the crushing burden of your sins. You may have been at your wits end - not knowing exactly why you felt so miserable, but misery was exactly what you were feeling. And you had been feeling that way for a long, long time!

 

Then you heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. And you believed it! Confessing that belief and repenting from the heart of your lifetime of sin, you then submitted yourself to God in that final act of His salvation plan: baptism!

 

Do you remember the feeling you had as you came up out of those waters? If you have never yielded your life in this total surrender to the will of God, then you have not experienced this emotion, but for those who have, it is nothing short of joy! Pure and unadulterated joy that you may have never had before. You were lost, but now you were found; blind, but now you see! 

 

And it was a happy day!

 

I think too many people are missing out on this renewal of life that God has made available to all through His loving grace. I believe that many people desperately yearn for that new start, but they have either rejected it or never heard that offer in the first place. So they live a life of futility, anger and desperation. But for those who have taken part in that wonderful gift of this new creation - they know!

 

And like that eunuch of old - that high official in the court of his queen in Ethiopia - who humbled himself to this washing of re-birth, they rejoice! But what happens to that rejoicing should we slip and sin again? Well, the Lord has that covered as well!

 

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

I John 1:7, ESV

 

It is indeed a new life, every day, for those who accept it. In that old spiritual that we began this article with, the song continues, "and live rejoicing every day! Oh, happy day!"

 

Are you having a happy day, every day? If not, maybe it's time to review God's offer of this new life that is contained within His holy word. Perhaps that is why He calls it the "Good News"! 

 

Oh, happy day!