A Great Honor

A couple of furloughs ago, I had the privilege of baptizing Hudson in the baptismal at our home church in Florida. Later, I baptized Morgan, Kian, and Asher in a muddy pool back in the village along with some of the new tribal believers. I remember feeling so proud of my boys as they each gave a public testimony of their faith in Christ and were obedient to baptism.

This summer I had the privilege of baptizing my 12-year-old nephew. I was thrilled when Logan shared that he wanted to be baptized and asked if I would do it! We gathered with family at a local beach, and we entered the emerald water amidst the tourists stretched out sunning on the sand. Logan’s dad, Todd, and I baptized him. Some of the beachgoers watched silently as others who were in the water with us clapped their hands with approval as we were making our way back to the beach. It was a great time, and it felt good to be “in the world” living out our Christian faith.

Baptism is important for three reasons. The first is that Jesus commanded us to go make disciples and then to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So if we want to be obedient to Jesus, it is good to get baptized. Second, it is a symbolic way we can relate to Christ’s death and raising to new life. When we are placed under the water, it is a picture of our old self that has died, and when we are brought up back out of the water, it is a picture of us being raised to new life in Christ. As we are baptized, we should be thinking about and thanking Christ for the great sacrifice that He paid for us! The third reason we should get baptized is that it is a great opportunity to publicly profess our faith in Jesus.

It has been the biggest joy in my life to see my own boys come to know the Lord and mature in their faith. Because of our mutual faith in Christ, I know that we will always be together in this life and the next. I am also so thankful to have family members that also know the Lord and want to be obedient to Christ. Being able to baptize Logan this summer was a great honor, and I pray that he follows hard after Christ all the days of his life.