Raised to Life

This June, I was baptized in a river. Well, not all of me went underwater. My knees stayed dry for a bit longer, until I was brought to stand and the torrent of water wet my knees as well. All jokes aside, getting baptized in a river was a very exciting experience for me to walk through with the Lord. One of the Sundays earlier in the year, I had felt prompted from Holy Spirit to desire such a thing. The opportunity came with a church picnic scheduled in a month or two on a homestead situated by a river. So I jumped for the opportunity! I have followed Jesus all of my life and given my life to Him but not gone through immersion baptism. I didn’t feel any inferiority having been sprinkled as an infant and confirmed as a teenager; I simply wanted to see the Lord in this way.

We walked out in the water. It’s actually pretty hard to walk out in the water with slippery river rocks and cheap flip flops. One of my pastors and an elder would be baptizing me. I had to hold their hands at times to keep from stumbling in. Didn’t want to get pre-baptized by accident. We got to a point that was only up to my calves and my pastor decided we’d stop there. My wife and friends were lined up on the shore, along with some of the congregation.

“I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit –,” then came a feeling I have not had much of in life. The sound of water rushing in all around my head and body, cutting me off from the world. I cannot swim, and have not been underwater for many years, so for me this was very poignant. Cut off from the outside world. Hidden. Dead. Then a split second later, raised to life. Alive! I felt I got as clear and beautiful a picture as I had ever gotten of my sins being dead and my life restored.

Out of the cold river water and into the rest of my life. Thank you, Jesus.