Last week I watched several children at my church in Colorado undergo the ancient Christian rite of baptism. A couple of days ago, here in New York City, my wife and I along with family and friends celebrated the baptism of our granddaughter.

As I watched these baptisms I realized that the future of the Christian faith is in the tub. These freshly baptized believers will lead our churches in the future. Embracing the faith through good times and bad, they will love their neighbors as themselves, and spread the gospel around the globe.

John the Baptist explained why he baptized masses of people in Israel before revealing Jesus:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

John baptized to reveal Jesus to Israel. We baptize our children, and all who pledge their allegiance to Jesus, to reveal Jesus to our society. This immersion ritual remains the longest running public indicator of our faith.

Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus?

John 1 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by kaleb tapp