Baptized!

For Wednesday, October 14, 2026:

Mark 1:9 NLT: “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John (the Baptist) baptized him in the Jordan River.”

God’s preference is for everyone to repent and return. Backsliding isn’t something we invented in the 21st Century. If you drew a graph of the Jewish people’s relationship with God, it would look like a roller coaster – up and down, closer to God, farther from God, back and forth. As people renewed their commitment to the Lord, baptism was an outward sign of their inward change. The old, defective person would go under the water and emerge figuratively cleaned, leaving sin behind. Renewed!

Most theologians agree that Jesus, being without sin, didn’t really need to be baptized. But it was a teachable moment. He was modeling repent and return for the rest of us.

Notable in this scenario are the two things that followed. First, the Holy Spirit broke open heaven and descended upon Jesus like a dove. And after that, a voice boomed from heaven, saying, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” That’s a proud Father bragging about his #1 Son! Wouldn’t you have loved to hear that voice?

Believers are adopted into that same Holy Family. Jesus told us to pray to “Our Father.” So we’re all sisters and brothers following the #1 Son. Maybe God has your picture on his refrigerator!

Pastor Norton Lawellin
The Father’s House
Jesus In the City Fellowship
Truth & Freedom Church