Thought of the Day February 1, 2019 Plunge into the river of grace.
Plunge into the river of grace.
“We were buried
therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness
of life.” (Romans
6:4)
Scripture
often uses water as a symbol for spiritual refreshment. The Psalmist says “my
soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where
no water is found” (Ps 63:1 RSV). The Lord wants to quench our spiritual thirst
with his presence: “He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into
springs of water” (Ps 107:35 RSV). Water serves as a powerful metaphor because
it is so necessary to human life: It refreshes the thirsty. It cleans the
dirty. It gives life to plants and animals. It restores the world every spring.
It causes crops to grow ready for harvest.
Water also conveys newness—the waters of
creation and re-creation. Water covers the earth at the beginning and it brings
about physical and spiritual cleansing. It makes things new again. Ancient Jews
would bathe in pure water in a mikveh in order to become
ritually pure to enter Temple worship. This purifying ritual lies in the
background in the ministry of John the Baptist, where he baptizes people as a
sign of repentance. Finally, in Christian baptism, all of the water metaphors
of the Old Testament are brought together. Jesus purifies the water of Baptism
by his death and resurrection and through the sacrament of Baptism, cleanses us
from the disease and dirt of sin, so that we might experience a spiritual
springtime in him. In Baptism, we pass through the Red Sea like the Israelites
(1 Cor 10:2), we are healed from the leprosy of sin like Naaman (2 Kgs 5:14),
we come to life like the desert in Ezekiel’s vision.
Reflect on what baptism means to you. (To be continued)
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