Day 122 Bible Reading – John 3: 5-6 (ESV)

Day 122 Bible Reading – John 3: 5-6 (ESV)

Joshua 21: 20-45, Joshua 22, John 3: 1-21, Psalm 69: 1-12

“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

I like verses 5 and 6 from John 3, because I interpret this line as Jesus talking about baptism. When I joined the church I belong to currently, they strongly advised all new members to be baptized with water. I grew up Catholic and I was baptized as a child, something which I do not remember. I must admit I thought it was a little silly to be baptized again, but I agreed to it.

I am so grateful that I made the decision to be baptized. Getting baptized at my church is a huge event. Many people participate and the church members gather and applaud you afterwards when you come out of the water. I loved the whole experience, because I kept thinking of John the Baptist and how he baptized people. Agreeing to be baptized was also my choice and not something that was forced on me as a baby. There is something so primal in coming out of the water because when you are in your mother’s womb, you are floating in water. When you are physically born, you are pushed from womb where you were floating, happy, and fed and brought into world with a slap on your bottom usually.  You didn’t ask to come out, you were pushed out because it was time for you to be born. When you are baptized as an adult, you made the choice to come out of the water / womb and instead of a slap on the bottom you hear applause. My church has live music during the baptism, so there is music as well that you hear. I felt the spirit of God descend on me and feed me as soon as I came out of the water. I didn’t have to wait to be fed or cry because I needed a hug. Holy Spirit was there as soon as came out of the water to feed me and comfort me.

If you haven’t been baptized as an adult, I recommend the experience. It was amazing, primal, and so kinesthetic. All of your senses are engaged in a baptism in water as well as your heart and mind. My one tiny criticism is I wish I could have been baptized in a river or a natural body of water, because that would have felt so biblical. But how many churches are near a body of water? I was baptized in a pool of warm water, which at least created the womb feeling.

Get baptized! You will not regret it.