Monday Devotional: January 3, 2022

More than Water

Scripture: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:27

A childhood memory of church was a pastor walking down the aisle, challenging us to “remember the waters of our baptism.” Remember the waters? You ask. How can you remember water? He then proceeded to splash everyone with water, which as a young child was both delightful and confusing.

Why should we think about baptism? When a person is baptized, there’s so much more to it than water. Baptism symbolizes how through faith in Jesus, we’ve become “clothed” with Him (Galatians 3:27). Or in other words, it’s celebrating that we belong to Him and that He lives in and through us.

As if that weren’t significant enough, the passage tells us that if we’ve been clothed with Christ our identity is found in Him. We’re the very children of God (v. 26). As such, we’ve been made right with God by faith—not by following Old Testament law (vv. 23–25). We’re not divided against one another by gender, culture, and status. We’re set free and brought into unity through Christ and are now His own (v. 29).

So there are very good reasons to remember baptism and all it represents. We aren’t simply focusing on the act itself but that we belong to Jesus and have become children of God. Our identity, future, and spiritual freedom are found in Him.

Reflect & Pray

What does it mean for you to be clothed with Christ and to belong to Him? What are ways in which you can regularly celebrate and remember the meaning of baptism?

God, help me to never forget that through Jesus I am a child of God!