Listen

Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous. He did this in order to bring you into the presence of God. Christ was put to death as a human, but made alive by the Spirit. And it was by the Spirit that he went to preach to the spirits in prison. In the past, these spirits were disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water. Baptism is like that. It saves you now—not because it removes dirt from your body but because it is the mark of a good conscience toward God. Your salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at God’s right side. Now that he has gone into heaven, he rules over all angels, authorities, and powers.

1 Peter 3:18-22

Think

Today’s scripture connects with David, the author of Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart and wash me thoroughly from my sins.” Baptism is not a removal of dirt from the body, but an appeal to God, a cleansing. It is the creating of a new heart. David was saying the same thing: he was not saying “let me have a shower and feel good about myself.” Rather he was saying, “I messed up and I need to be made clean, made whole.”

If you’ve been baptized, think a bit about your baptism during this Lenten season. How does that experience make a difference in your life today? As we die to sin and rise to new life in the Spirit, we are reminded that every day we are a new creation. It is by God’s grace that we are incorporated into the body of Christ by baptism. By grace we have been made new, and we have confessed with our lips what we believe in our lives.

Sandye A. Wilson

Question to Ponder:

What does baptism mean to you? How does your baptism make a difference in your life today?

Pray

Dear God, Thank you that through the waters of baptism, I have been marked as Christ’s own forever. Thank you that I am commissioned to go into the world making disciples of all nations, remembering that you are with me, even until the end of the ages. Thank you that I am created in the Imago Dei (the image of God). Help me to treat others as created in your image too. Amen.

Go

Go now in peace, go now in peace. May the love of God surround you, every day and everywhere you may go.