Baptism

Before I get started....

Let me first apologize for the long delay between posts. Life has been a bit crazy in the last month and a half, with moving in, school starting up again, and now a test every week it seems. Although this is not a good excuse for not throwing down the occasional blog or two. I have had some very bloggable thoughts in that period though, yet have not delivered. I know, so un-clutch...so I may end up blogging at a decent rate here in the next few weeks as I gather those thoughts and convert them into blog form, so keep your eyes peeled!

So, about that title...

Baptism is, until very recently, something that I did not really understand, nor consider as significant as I should have been considered it. Baptism, by pure definition, is the public profession of one's faith and commitment to the Lord. It is also one's acknowledgment and recognition of what Jesus did for us on the cross and in His life - that He lived the perfect life we were supposed to live, and died a sinner's death on the cross in our place. The work has already been done for us on the cross - baptism is the displaying of our acceptance of that work. Sometimes as a Christian it can be hard not to think that we have a checklist of things we need to do for the Lord. That we have a ton of work we are obligated to do, to further the Kingdom of God. Christ has already come here and done the work for us, He has made it easy! We as Christians are so overjoyed and thankful for what He has done that we couldn't imagine our response being anything but absolute servitude and submission to the Lord. But we are sinful, and so very far from perfect, and so we struggle with the "absolute" part mentioned in that last sentence. So to tie that together, baptism isn't something that we have to do for the Lord, but in reality a response for what He has done for us!

I was baptized as an infant at my church in Nashville, Tennessee. I remember it very clearly....no, of course that is not true, I do not remember it at all. But didn't I just say that I have the understanding that baptism is a public profession of one's faith, and a profession to the Lord that we accept what He has done for us and want to make it known to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? But alas! I was baptized last week, in front of 7,200+ people at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC, as a part of the Summit Church's "Church at the Ballpark" event! I first accepted Christ into my life and committed my life to serving Him at the age of 16, but it wasn't until the last few months that I considered what it might mean to be baptized.

Do you have to get baptized to be saved? No. The Lord only asks that we accept the love He has given us, and that we understand and recognize that Christ died for our sins, both in the past and future. The baptism, and all of our actions/words, are a response to that beautiful story of sacrifice and new life. We have been resurrected through Christ - our old self is gone, and a new one is born. Baptism is our response and the action that we take to show the Lord that we really are committed to Him and understand these things. The Lord also gave us brothers and sisters in Christ to share His love and to worship with. It is important that we make it public to our friends in Christ that we are willing to make that sort of commitment in front of a bunch of people (in my case, 7,000).

I was not even planning on getting baptized that day. J.D. came on stage and was talking about baptism, and what it means to be baptized, and it honestly just hit me that I really wanted to do it, and felt like I should as a profession of my faith. I was extremely blessed that almost my entire small group and some of my best friends were on hand to witness it, walk me through it, and support me throughout the entire thing. It feels incredible to have been washed in the water - a great representation of Christ washing away my sins with His blood when He took them on the cross for me!

Thank you Lord for the blessing of baptism - that you have provided us with a response to Your great works that we can continue to look back on and reflect on all of the great things You have done for us and will continue to do. Thank you for loving friends and family that support us in our relationship with You, and encourage us in our faith. Thank you for Your cross, Your Word, and all that You have given us. Amen.