“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of age.”NIV Matthew 28: 19-20
I have been very excited all week! This coming Sunday, two of my grandchildren are being baptized. Like many mothers and grandmothers, I cover my family in prayer and one of my greatest prayers is that they will discover Christ. Seeing their excitement is absolutely contagious!
Part of being a disciple of Christ is that you make a public confession. I remember how scary that felt to me as a child. I was absolutely riddled with guilt over the actions I knew wounded Jesus each time I took them.
I knew for instance I had TWT far too often (Trouble with the Truth) If mom would ask who did something and it was most certainly me, it was easy to blame my younger sister or say, “I don’t know”
If I did something I was proud of, it was very easy to fall into a habit of bragging about it. No humility lived here.
All kindnesses were broadcast as well.
My praying was often done in public rather than in private.
In aging, and watching those in my family with much more social grace than I, I wonder at their deep Christ-like love for humanity and their complete shunning of the accolades that could accompany their good works. Instead, knowing good works cannot get them into heaven, they have grown into the scripture written in Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.” NIV
Notice I said they grew into the verse. God wants us to come into our faith - no matter our age - as “little children,” full of exuberance and excitement, ready to learn and grow, full of innocence in His grace. It is all waiting for you today. Just ask.
One of my favorite things about a baptism on Sunday morning is that it revives my faith. It reminds me to peel back some of the ”old” of a 60-year-old faith and make it new again. It reminds me to let my face show the joy I feel inside of finding the peace that passes all human understanding.
Kingdom Building:
Pray daily. As often as you can. Pray for others, yes, but remember to pray for yourself too. I love the little prayer my grandmother always prayed, three times a day at least. I heard her pray it at each meal: “Lord, please forgive me all of my sins, those I know I have committed and those I have committed unknowingly against you, Father. Amen.”
Read your Bible today. Just a verse. Just open it and read. The Lord will guide you. Keep it close where you will see it. Don’t put it away between Sundays.
Go to church this week. Exercise that muscle. There are people there waiting to get to know you. The real you. The flawed you. You belong.
