Baptism.

I gave my life to Christ in the ninth grade. Four years later the summer before leaving home for university I was baptized  It was something I had put off for years, knowing it was what God wanted for me, but too afraid to make the public declaration of my faith. It hit me that summer however, that if I was not able to stand up inform of my church family and say that I loved God that I would never stand a chance standing up for what I believe in at university. So I took the plunge (literally) and was baptized.

I believe baptism is a crucial part to anyone's faith walk as it is first what God commands us to do, so we are baptized in obedience of Him (Matthew 28:18-20). Secondly, I believe that baptism is public testimony of your inward commitment to follow Christ. Baptism does not save, it does not make you any holier or in my opinion wash away your sins, those are for Christ alone. It is Jesus who when he died on the cross that saved us, it is that blood that he shed that allows our sins to be forgiven.

So six years have passed since I was baptized and I am now for a number of reasons finally getting around to applying for church membership. I filled out the paperwork and then handed my husbands copy to him and asked that he do the same so we could apply together. He started the paper work as I left for boot camp one night. I got home and took at look at what I was anticipating to be a completed form but instead he only had the first questioned filled in. I questioned him about it and he confessed very confused that he actually did not know how to answer the second question about describing when he was baptized. 

Before my husband and I started dating at the end of high school he had attended a United Church in which he had attended confirmation and was baptized.  When we first started dating after a few conversations he realized that he never actually asked Christ into his life, but it was more so a number of steps that he had completed and therefore figured that was what made him a Christian. He then prayed and asked Christ into his life. I never did consider the fact that he was baptized and then asked Christ into his life. It was backwards and he was therefore not really baptized for the right reasons but instead simply because he was not baptized as an infant as is common practice in the United Church.

After speaking with a Pastor at church about it, the husband has decided to be baptized again. To stand in front of a church he now calls his own and declare his love for Jesus. I cannot be more excited for him (even though I totally thought he was already baptized). I cannot wait to watch as my husband takes this wonderful step of obedience in following Christ.

So if you call yourself a Christian, have given your life to Christ and want to follow His plans for your life and have not been baptized, I ask what is holding your back? I challenge you to take that huge leap of faith and I promise that it will not be a decision that you regret. I love baptisms and am regularly brought to tears of joy to see how life changing and awesome God is.