A Baptismal Recognition

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  Matthew 3:16-17

Now we would like a pile of our efforts at goodness to cause God to say something like this of us. A baptismal recognition reward, if you will. However, as the Holy Spirit shows to us the mountain of our sin with its dark slopes, we know that this lifetime will by no means be enough to save ourselves no matter how many good works we do. And of course good works done to save the self has a rather selfish bent to it. Jesus selflessly set out to redeem us from our sin. And His ministry to spread the good news began all dripping wet beside the Jordan River. Humble, obedient to God, and worthy of His baptismal recognition. 

Praise to the Lord our God and Savior!

Bucky