611 A Saturday Baptism. Vote 1. May 1, 2025

Key Scriptures: John 3:3-5

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Relevance

Last week, my wife and I made the lengthy journey to Mildura, Victoria, for a Saturday full of Bible study, fellowship, testimonies, and a wonderful water baptism. 

It’s hard to beat a group of believers gathering to praise the Lord. What do you think? 

We had three studies over the course of a day, starting at 10:30 a.m. and finishing around 8:30 p.m.

In between, we enjoyed the fellowship and small discussions of how things were going elsewhere. We talked about how the Bible relates to our lives, life in general, and political affairs that we didn’t manage to solve.

The Bible is the only book in the world designed to intrigue and entice the mind and heart, keeping readers returning to enjoy deeper and deeper revelations for years. 

We derive all these wonders from that one book that so many people despise. In fact, yesterday, I heard the parliamentary member for Kooyong, Dr Monique Ryan, refer to a political party that had made ties with a Christian organisation. She said she was concerned about a party aligning itself with an organisation that doesn’t believe in evolution—a remarkable bais from someone claiming to represent all constituents. 

Do you find it odd or wrong that people of that ilk inhabit our highest halls of parliament?

Especially considering that our country was founded on Christian principles, which are expressly written into our earliest federal documents.

Ignorance and a lack of the most basic biological understanding (not knowledge) have almost put our country at odds with Almighty God. This biblical cluelessness is a shameful element voters overlook when going to the polls. Don't forget to vote at our federal election on May 3. 

Anyhow, back to Saturday. It rained most of the day, but that didn’t deter people from turning up. For hours, we pored through the Bible, looking at various subjects, from sin to salvation and everything in between. 

A delightful lunch and dinner were provided as people relaxed and engaged in casual chats or deep and meaningful conversations. The Holy Spirit loves these times of fellowship. He enjoys us going through the word with a pick and shovel, finding the nuggets The Lord hides. 

He also places great value on having heart-to-heart talks and discussing topics that are most important to our daily lives. The word says iron sharpens iron, meaning that when we have fellowship with each other, it sharpens our Kingdom usefulness. It grows the Holy Spirit within, and we become more valuable, more useful, and better able to do the work God requires. We get different perspectives on important matters of life, which aids maturity. 

Jesus said that when we come to him, we get another family, people we can talk to, people who love us and whom we love, people who help us become everything we can be in Christ. On Saturday, we also had a water baptism—a beautiful experience of a man who gave his heart to the Lord. He has just been enjoined to a new family—one who has the responsibility to love, cherish, and help develop this guy in his walk with the Lord.

What a wonderful expression of love God has given us to be baptised in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and then follow the life of His choosing.

A few days earlier, three of us met with the guy to discuss the necessities of giving one's heart to the Lord. We needed him to know that as the commitment, he was in for a wonderful life. I told him to be prepared for such an amazing ride with the Lord that he would never experience anything like it.

On a humorous note, one of the onlookers asked why everyone seemed to get baptised in cold weather. What would interest them to climb into the cold water? Why wouldn't they make that decision in Summer? As we watched the baptiser and the baptisee take the first step into the pool, we could see the chill running up to their knees. But the second step—the deep one— was the one that took their breath away. In cold weather, it's much more pleasant when someone else is doing the baptising!

We're back home now, still smiling from the wealth gleaned from our spiritual adventure. What superb memories as travelling companions!

Bless you all, and keep looking up!

Prayer

Precious Father, thank you for the special joy of becoming one of your children. Keep our new arrival and bless him abundantly. 

Photo by Kaleb Tapp