Listen

John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins.

Mark 1:4-5

Think

In many traditions, you’re only baptized once, but that doesn’t mean that the significance of your baptism is limited to one day. Instead, baptism has lifelong consequences as it is a sign of God’s everlasting covenant with us and signifies the beginning of new life in Christ.

Mark tells us that many people throughout Judea responded to John’s invitation for baptism. Not only did they seek God’s forgiveness for their sins in the baptismal waters, but they wanted to show that they were changing their hearts and lives to reflect their faith in God. Notice that they were in the process of changing their hearts and lives when they were baptized. Living lives that reflected faith in God wasn’t just a one-time, single-day activity, but a daily practice and a process.

Each day we can choose to change our hearts and lives to reflect our faith in God and to live into God’s covenant with us. What do you need to change so that you can fully respond to God’s call on your life?

Rosy Robson

Pray

Promising God, thank you for your everlasting covenant to be my God. Forgive me of my sins. Help me to choose today to change my heart and my life to reflect my faith in you. Amen.

Go

Go now to a responsible involvement in the world.
Be at peace,
for God who created you,
Christ who redeems you,
and the Spirit who sustains you
go with you today and every day.

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