Me on Your Mind - a Five-Day Reading Plan by Matthew WestSample

Baptized

Recently, my daughter made the decision to make a public profession of her faith by being baptized during her youth group worship service. Her mom and I were ecstatic when she told us she wanted to be baptized. I was humbled when she asked me to be the one to baptize her. We gathered with her youth group in the backyard of the youth pastor’s home on a cool, fall evening and experienced a moment that I will never forget.

I cried like a baby, so proud of my daughter and so happy to know that her heart belongs to Jesus. This is what every Jesus-loving parent prays for; that their children will desire a personal relationship with Christ and that they will be bold in their faith in a world that can easily push us to be timid. Just before she went in the water I said, “Lulu, your earthly father is proud of you, but your Heavenly father is even more proud of you!”

Something the youth pastor said that night about baptism struck me and I wanted to share it with you today. She said, “Your faith is meant to be personal but not private.” That’s what baptism is, a public profession of your personal faith. Today I want to challenge you to look at your faith journey. Is your personal faith staying private or are you taking it public? If you are a follower of Christ, do the people around you know?

Hopefully, the people you interact with daily can tell there’s something different about you than the rest of the world because of your actions, your kindness, and the way you love others. Jesus said “…everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another (John 13:35).” But have you ever felt God calling you to make a public declaration of your faith and you got scared? Perhaps, you’ve felt Him leading you to witness to a friend, or strike up a conversation with a stranger, and you’ve chosen to ignore His whisper for fear of what others might say. I want to encourage you today to be bold in your faith. To lean into and not back away from the whisper of God when He’s calling you to step out and take your faith public. Maybe even the story of my daughter is stirring in your heart right now the desire to be baptized. I hope you will respond to that stirring. Your faith is personal but not private!

DO SOMETHING:

1. Have you ever been baptized? If so, take some time to remember what that experience was like and why you made that choice. If not, take some time to ask God if this is something He is calling you to do.
2. What are some ways you can take your faith public today?