Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of  the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon when we all showed up in Nabinoonya at the lakeside for our church hangout. Those days, we could all go to the beach, the whole church, because we were few, perhaps less than 40. What was special about this outing however was that many of us, including yours truly the pastor, were going to be baptized by John Katto (JK). JK had been taking us through the Discipleship Evangelism course by Andrew Wommack and Don Krow and in the recent weeks, one of the topics was baptism. Having grown up in a religious church, I argued all my life against being baptized because I’d seen a black and white grainy picture of a baby being held by parents in church and was told that that was the day I was baptized. Being a baby, of course I wasn’t “present” in mind. I didn’t know what was being done. I didn’t agree to be baptized. I hadn’t believed on the Lord Jesus. Of course, I had no scriptural basis for my arguments, but that’s exactly how religion works. Argue and argue, including against the scriptures. So during the DE course, as we studied and understood baptism those of us who had never been baptized agreed to be baptized and we chose the day when we all went to the beach for baptism and some beachside fellowship. 

As seen from the scripture above, baptism was a command from Jesus to His disciples, for all the people who would become His followers. Jesus Himself got baptized in the river Jordan by John, and He said it was to fulfill all righteousness. Even though baptism is not what gives you eternal life, or gets you born again, it is a step that every believer must take in obedience to the Lord. There is a reason why of all things, Jesus chose baptism as the specific identifier of those who believe. In the coming devotionals, I’ll share more about this, to give you a clearer understanding as you decide to be baptized if you’re not or as you teach others who need to.