Above the Water

2 Corinthians 5:17  NLT “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.

I love history. History and English were where I excelled in school. I’m not sure what side of the brain that is but it wasn’t the math and science side at all. Saying that, I really love to read about history. Recently I was reading about the Knights Templar. I’m sure you’ve all heard of them and the Crusades. If you haven’t I encourage you to it’s fascinating. Anyway, the story goes that when the Knights were going to fight the Crusades they would be baptized. They would march together to the river to consecrate themselves to God before going into battle. I imagine it showed their dedication to God. They would submerge their whole body; except they would hold their swords over their headskeeping that part above the water. Their lives belonged to God- except the part that had to do with killing the enemy. It’s almost like they were saying “I’m all yours Lord, EXCEPT what I do on the battlefield with this sword. That’s not part of the deal. You can have total control of me, just not this part.”

Imagine doing that today. You’re being baptized and as you go under the water you hold your arm out of the water and in your hand is….what? Some might be holding their phone. Maybe a laptop. Maybe a wallet or friends or food, a job the choices are endless. I’m using baptism because it paints a vivid picture. To say to Jesus “I surrender everything to You Lord, except this (Fill in the blank).”

When Jesus came to save us He made no compromises. He didn’t say “Ok, I’ll save you, just not that part.”  He was all in, so shouldn’t we be all in with Him?   Imagine if He did that? Holy cow!!  But He didn’t and because of that we are saved. He died to have a relationship with us, and He holds nothing back. Not His love, time, patience, compassion nothing.  He loves us THAT MUCH. So much that He doesn’t want to share your heart with anyone or anything. Nothing but your complete devotion and heartfelt love will do. If you think about it, the one thing we hold tightly to, the one thing we are reluctant to give up has the potential to become a substitute for Him. So instead of looking only at Him, we’re also looking at whatever we are tightly holding in our hand.  The thing we are holding above the water. The thing we are not quite so willing to give up.

Baptism  symbolically represents being born again in Christ. We go down into the water and all our sins, past mistakes and our old nature are washed away and in return, we rise as new creations, just as Christ rose from the dead. It represents a fresh start, a new chapter in our journey with Christ. Can we have a fresh start if we are still holding onto something we can’t or won’t let go of?

PRAYER:

Lord, You know the areas in our lives where we struggle to let go of the things that no longer serve us- the habits, attitudes, and thoughts that we hold so tightly to and that hinder our growth and relationship with You. Please give us Your strength to release these old ways and immerse ourselves fully into Your hands. Help us to recognize what no longer aligns with Your will and give us the courage to let go. Help us to continually seek Your grace as we walk this journey with You.

Amen