As we enter the “dry” months still in a level 4 drought, we are even more aware of how precious water is for life. Water quenches our thirst, cleans our bodies, and gives life to all creation. Two years ago we gave little thought to water in Gwinnett. Run the sprinkler, wash the car, and build to our hearts content. Now we measure each inch from the sky, take showers with buckets, and make every drop count. That which was common has now become precious.

   I wonder if that could also be said for the grace of our baptism. When I was a young pastor in Tennessee, a lady stopped by the church one day and asked to “get her daughter done.” She meant baptized. I have never forgotten that encounter. This precious gift of being adopted by God, becoming a part of God’s chosen people, being set apart to live anew life in Christ had become “getting done.”

   Even active disciples can fall into the trap of forgetting our baptism. How many of us know and celebrate the day we were born into the world but can’t remember and never celebrate the day we were born into God’s people? The most precious moment of our spiritual lives has gone dry.

   As we enter the season of the church year that focuses on the life of the church and the lives of those who belong to Christ, I hope we will renew our sense of joy at being baptized people of God. Read Romans 6:1-4, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, and Galatians 3:27-28. Pray daily for renewal of your baptismal grace. Find out the day you were baptized – and then plan to celebrate! Let God’s love shower down upon us like living waters.

   And a little rain wouldn’t hurt either!

In the Living Water,

Pastor Dale

pastordale_tlc@bellsouth.net