I stopped dating Jesus about a year ago…
Having grown up in a Christian home and gone to a Christian elementary school, I have always had somewhat of a relationship with Jesus. For most of my elementary school “career”, I accepted Jesus into my heart every Friday morning during chapel. I figured the first few times had worked, but my eight-year-old self just wanted to make sure.
Then came middle school and high school and the introduction to new vocabulary (which my mom was not at all happy about), new friends (which I am still thankful for), and new temptations (which drew me away from Jesus). By the time I hit my junior year of high school, I had “successfully” set up two different lives: my “school life” and my “church life.”
But our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) and would not allow me to give only a portion of myself to him. Through a series of friendships, emotions, and one Friday night on a youth retreat, I fell to my knees before the Lord and surrendered my life to him. This was in 2007, a few months before my 17th birthday. So at 16, I entered into a relationship with Jesus and have never looked back.
That weekend would have been a really good weekend to be baptized. You see- baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality. Paul explains this in-depth in Romans 6, sharing that the symbolism of baptism is us dying with Christ underwater, and then coming out with the “newness of life” that Jesus experienced in His resurrection. Going down into the water represents our death and having been washed by the saving grace of Jesus, we emerge out of the water clean and new - signifying our salvation and regeneration in Christ.
Getting baptized on that retreat at 16 years old when I surrendered my life to Christ wouldn’t have moved me closer to salvation or saved me because I had already placed my faith in Jesus. It would have been a moment for me to declare publically my new identity. Regardless of the missed opportunity, that weekend I entered into a new relationship with Jesus.
The years that followed, I generally was “on fire” for the Lord. I made sure to share with others my relationship by talking about Jesus often, committing much of my summers to missions trips, and being actively involved in a disciplining community. Don’t get me wrong- these are all great, normal things to do in our relationship with Jesus. But for some reason baptism just kept resurfacing in the back of my head.
And I realized something about a year ago. Baptism isn’t just an outward expression of an inward reality. Baptism is also a covenant. Much like the vows that we say and the rings that we put on our fingers in the covenant of marriage, baptism is that moment when we enter into a symbolic union with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Again, don’t get me wrong- we still enter into union with the Father by the sacrifice of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit if we aren’t physically baptized. But there is something special about making this public declaration. Much like getting married: we make a huge deal about a wedding because it is a joyous occasion. It’s also a moment that we want all of our friends and family to witness. In the vows, we make commitments, entering into a covenant and inviting the witnesses to hold us to our commitment.
A year ago, I realized I hadn’t done this special act with the Person I had spent years cultivating a relationship with. In a sense, I decided I didn’t want to “date” Jesus anymore. I wanted to experience the symbolic nature of baptism and solidify that holy covenant with Him. And in making that decision, I found myself not wanting to do anything else until I had been baptized. I couldn’t wait any longer! I had waited too long.
So one snowy day in December 2017, with a couple of friends, my wife and I went over to our pastor’s house and got baptized in his hot tub. It was random and perfect. Nothing officially changed for us that day. But I know God is honored by the act. Especially because we felt the Spirit prompt us to do something and we obeyed quickly.
I want to encourage you, now. If you haven’t trusted Jesus yet as your Lord and Savior: why not? I bet the Holy Spirit has put a tug on your heart- go ahead and say yes and see what happens. It’s amazing. And if you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior but haven’t been baptized yet: why not? The next time you feel your heart race and have the opportunity to be baptized, don’t hesitate. The Lord is calling you into a sweet covenant.