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Summertime is a great time. It is a time where we get the sunscreen out and head to the beach to relax on a hot summer’s day. It is a time when we drink lemonade in the shade and get out the slip ‘n slide, or make our own! It is also a time where we clean out the pool, or in our case get one of those inflatable ring pools to wade in. I love the water, so pretty much anything to do with swimming or bodies of water I’m into. You might say that I love to stir the waters.
Just like I love to stir the waters and have a good time outdoors, I love to stir the waters in the baptistery. Now, wait a minute! I’m not talking about taking a cannonball into the baptistery or anything like that. What I’m talking about is seeing the waters moved by people who have given their lives over to Jesus Christ. They have stopped living for themselves and are now living for Jesus. They have “taken up their cross” to follow Him.
Do you remember when you were baptized? I guess I should clarify that. A biblical baptism is a baptism in which a person is making a public profession of faith in Christ and is trust in His all-sufficient grace to save them from their sins. It is when a person is giving a visual testimony of a heart change that has taken place inside them. It is a wondrous occasion! I still vividly remember the night that I was baptized. I remember the excitement that I felt. I remember feeling like I was alive. So many times we forget. So many times we minimize the event to just some small thing that happened a long time ago. However, Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we should not do this. In fact, according to verses 3-4, Paul tells us that when we are tempted to sin, we need to remember our baptism. Our baptism was more than something we did, it was something we said. We said that we were dying to self and crucifying ourselves on the cross of Calvary so that we could be buried with Christ and raised to walk in a new life. The old life brought death and destruction. The new life brings life and vibrancy to a former corpse. We are now a new creation in Christ and we no longer have to live as slaves to sin. When you are tempted to sin, let’s stir the waters of our heart and go back to our baptism. Let’s remember the death we died to sin and the life that we can now live in Jesus Christ. May God stir the waters of our hearts again!
Just like I love to stir the waters and have a good time outdoors, I love to stir the waters in the baptistery. Now, wait a minute! I’m not talking about taking a cannonball into the baptistery or anything like that. What I’m talking about is seeing the waters moved by people who have given their lives over to Jesus Christ. They have stopped living for themselves and are now living for Jesus. They have “taken up their cross” to follow Him.
Do you remember when you were baptized? I guess I should clarify that. A biblical baptism is a baptism in which a person is making a public profession of faith in Christ and is trust in His all-sufficient grace to save them from their sins. It is when a person is giving a visual testimony of a heart change that has taken place inside them. It is a wondrous occasion! I still vividly remember the night that I was baptized. I remember the excitement that I felt. I remember feeling like I was alive. So many times we forget. So many times we minimize the event to just some small thing that happened a long time ago. However, Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we should not do this. In fact, according to verses 3-4, Paul tells us that when we are tempted to sin, we need to remember our baptism. Our baptism was more than something we did, it was something we said. We said that we were dying to self and crucifying ourselves on the cross of Calvary so that we could be buried with Christ and raised to walk in a new life. The old life brought death and destruction. The new life brings life and vibrancy to a former corpse. We are now a new creation in Christ and we no longer have to live as slaves to sin. When you are tempted to sin, let’s stir the waters of our heart and go back to our baptism. Let’s remember the death we died to sin and the life that we can now live in Jesus Christ. May God stir the waters of our hearts again!
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