Reminded of our surrender

There are a handful of events in our lives that graduate into life-long memories. Our wedding day is one…or at least should be. The first time we laid eyes on our children easily makes the cut. Perhaps when we landed our dream job? As followers of Jesus, the day we are baptized becomes just as memorable. Not just for sentimental reasons, but for empowering reasons. It’s an act of dying to oneself in surrender God. When we remember our baptism, we’re reminded of our surrender. This is why Jesus himself was baptized. To show that even he, the Son of God and sinless one, surrendered himself to his Father. Moments later, the Holy Spirit showed up. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and light on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Today, we walked into the Jordan River, at the likely spot Jesus himself was baptized. There were four “corrals” myself and three other pastors occupied to baptize the others. Between each “corral” was a handrail. Moments after many of us were baptized….a dove landed on the handrail closest to me, then flew to the second and finally the third. (I’ll wait until you pick your jaw up from the floor.) We were shocked. Could this be an incredible coincidence? Did God show up in a tangible way? Was he saying to us the same thing he said to Jesus when another dove showed up? Undoubtedly, this baptism has already graduated into a life-long memory that is not only sentimental, but empowering.

It was a busy day though. We began driving south of Jerusalem into the Judean Desert to the Fortress of Masada. It’s on the shore of the Dead Sea. While the fortress is several hundred, if not thousands, of feet up, being next to the Dead Sea still makes it one of the lowest points on earth. King Herod built his Winter Palace there before it became a fortress. You would be, like we were, amazed at the engineering genius King Herod had. A miserable and terrible person he was, but a genius engineer.

From there, we walked the cavernous hills at En Gedi where David hid from King Saul. From there, it was the Jordan River and finally, floating like balloons in the air in the Dead Sea. Being %33 more dense than the ocean, you couldn’t help but float.

Tomorrow is Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity, Shepherds Field, Jericho and the Mount of Temptation. As always, we’ll bring you along. So keep your eyes open for more updates. See you tomorrow.