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More than Water

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:3-4

Symbols always point to something far deeper. We talk about baptism and we think of the act of being dunked in water. (Sorry for being a little crass.) But talking about the outward act does not capture its meaning. For those of us who have been baptized in the name of Jesus, it is an outward sign of us dying with Him on the cross, being buried, and being raised to life. Death precedes life. Our old self must die in order to share His life.

Years ago, I did an outdoor baptism, one of the candidates was a very special autistic young man. I tried to explain baptism as simply as I could and David seemed to understand. I could tell he was a little nervous but he confidently joined me in the water. Afterwards, he was very excitedly talking with his Mom. They came over to me and she said she had to tell me something. She said that David thought that when I took him under the water, he was literally going to die. But he loved Jesus enough that he was willing to do that, even though it scared him. He also knew that Jesus would bring him back to life. David got it.

Romans 6 reminds us that we have died to this world and everything in it. We were baptized into Christ’s death, His ultimate, selfless act of obedience to the Father. And by dying to self, everything in our life now is about obedience to the Father. It is the life of Jesus in us. But life can only be received by dying first.

Prayer Focus: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your total act of obedience to the Father by dying for us on the cross. Help me to die to myself today and every day so that I may experience the fullness of life that comes from You.

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