Baptism

“From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”—Galatians 6:17 (NKJV)

Why do I wear a wedding ring? Well, that sounds like a weird question. But before we talk about the purpose of my wedding ring, let’s go over what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t make me married, my marriage contract does. It doesn’t make me love my wife, the time and effort I put into our marriage does. It doesn’t feel good on my finger, I actually liked not having to wear one better (shhhhh, don’t tell my wife, haha).

So, what is the purpose of my wedding ring? Well, it tells everyone else I’m married. It publicly connects me to my wife. Every person that sees my ring will know I’m taken, I’m in a relationship, I’m in love, and everything else that goes with marriage.

Ok, so what does this have to do with anything? Well, once we recognize we’re sinners in need of a Savior named Jesus and we ask Him into our lives, there are some important things He asks us to do. One of those things is to be baptized. When we get baptized, we’re submerged in water and brought back up really quickly. That can sound kind of weird, but it’s a command from Jesus, Himself.

But why? What does baptism symbolize? Well, when we go into the water it’s symbolic of us leaving our old life behind and rising again as a new creation. It’s symbolic of our sin being washed away. It’s symbolic of Jesus dying and spending three days in the grave and rising back to life. But it’s also our way of identifying with Him publicly. It’s like our wedding ring to our relationship with Him.

Throughout the Bible, Jesus is referred to as the groom and we, the Church, are referred to as His bride. When we become Christians, we enter into a relationship with Him. So, our baptism is putting the “wedding ring” on our relationship. The marriage contract gets signed by the blood of Jesus when we ask Him into our lives, and our baptism is how we publicly declare our allegiance to Him.

If you have not been baptized yet, pray about when that would be. It’s a command from Christ, so it’s not something we maybe should do, it’s something we need to do. And if you have been baptized, let this be a reminder that the world looks on and knows that you walk with Jesus. Therefore, be sure to live a life that points others to Him!