NOT JUST A PAST MEMORY

Sunday: January 12, 2020

Today is the feast of the Baptism of Jesus and so a question which caught me a bit off guard is that which I also wish to ask you: ‘We remember our dates of birth, but do we remember the dates of our Baptism?’

In conversations with many other Christians, we are more likely to hear ‘I was baptised’ than ‘I am baptised’. While this seems a minor issue involving the preference of form of the verb ‘to be’ that is used, they signify two very distinct dispositions of mind.

‘WAS’, which is the more popular, relegates our baptism to some memory and event in the past; an action probably carried out as a mere formality. The latter using ‘AM’ however, suggests the notion of an awareness of who we are as children of God and what baptism means to us in our ongoing walk with God. A constant reminder that we are ‘washed, forgiven, cleansed and purified.

That, my dear, is what our baptism signifies and it is the understanding we need to journey with. We ought not push to the way side this wonderful experience that admits us into the family of God, but we need walk with it imprinted on our very eyes and in our heart.

‘I am baptised’

#sly