Scripture- Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Observation - Much has been written about this passage over the centuries. In fact, the day I read this scripture in my daily bible reading, it was the subject of both of the radio programs I listened to that day while driving in to work! Our God is the author if coincidence. The bible teaches us that baptism is symbolic of the death of our selves, and the rebirth of our new selves. Our old selves are selfish, and sinful. Our new selves are spiritual and filled with the very spirit of God himself. Today when we think of something being symbolic, it has a connotation of being not real. That is not the original meaning of the word, and not the correct meaning when referring to things such as baptism being symbolic. Merriam-Webster defines symbol as "a visible sign of something invisible". For example, the stop sign is the symbol of the traffic law that says we need to stop. If there were not traffic law, the red octagon would mean nothing to most of us. However, if there were a traffic law but no red octagon at the intersection we would not stop! In some sense, the symbol is more real than the invisible thing it represents. So it is with Baptism, although it is symbolic... it is very real. A divine transaction takes place when with a pure heart we follow Christ's command and example of repentance, baptism and infilling of the Holy Spirit of God almighty.
Application: The Bible says we must be born again. Life without Jesus is no life at all. Don't wait another day to devote your self to your God, and follow his command to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, show us the way we should go. Help us to follow you with all of our mind, all of our heart, and all of our soul. Give us this day. We commit ourselves to you, to love you and serve you all of the days of our life.
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