Day 32 Thursday - Mar 30, 2023; Mar 21, 2024; Apr 10, 2025
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. -Matthew 28:19-20
There is a humorous reality in our world today that we regularly click “I agree” to user agreements we never read. We could be signing our firstborn child away and without hesitation we scroll past every term of condition to the bottom and thoughtlessly click “I agree”.
Sometimes it feels like that’s how baptism goes. A lot of folks are asked to learn the scriptures, take up the faith, remain in church, etc. We lay out a bunch of promises and then ask them to click “I agree” if you want to be baptized. And then so many do little thereafter towards all those things we agreed to do for ourselves (or our children). But we should remember that Jesus when telling the Apostles to go make disciples of all nations he didn’t say to just baptize them, he added that we could be “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Part of baptism then is being committed to learning all that Jesus said to us. And note it’s not just learning it intellectually, but “to observe” it. It isn’t about “graduating from confirmation” but about living the life God has now given you. So if you’re trying to figure out how to find meaning in your baptism, then start learning what it is to observe everything Jesus says to you. That’s the life you’ve been baptized into. That’s why we should quickly click “I agree” to baptism: so this new life God has given you may begin.
Teach me your ways, O Lord, and show me your paths. May I not only never forget my baptism in which you showered me with your grace, but may I never forget the life I was baptized to live by that grace. Give me pastors, mentors, and siblings in Christ who will teach me to observe everything you have commanded me. Amen.
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