Therefore Water

Therefore you will joyously draw water
From the springs of salvation.

Baptism into Christ Jesus completely and forever changes your state of being in the presence of God. Where once you were an enemy, you are now His child. When once you were unclean, you are now cleansed. Where once there was only sin, now there is forgiveness of sin. Where once there was only death, now there is eternal life.

How is this so? Because there is salvation in these waters. There is salvation in these waters because Christ Jesus is bound to them not only through His own baptism in the Jordan, at which time the heavens were opened, but also through His baptism in becoming sin. He Who knew no sin became sin. Your Father in heaven saw to it that the springs of salvation would be joyously drawn and poured over you.

Yes. From the time those waters of salvation were drawn and poured over your whole person, body, soul, and spirit, your state of being has been that of a child of God. That is why, as you traverse your days in this condition, matters of sin and death are of grave concern to you; that as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death you are comforted; that the still waters drawn from the spring of Salvation bring joy in the face of adversity; comfort in times of trouble.

Baptism cannot be reversed, but it can be forgotten. And yet, here you are in the presence of God’s Word, whereby He brings these things to your remembrance, for it is important that this gift of being joined to Christ Jesus in His death and resurrection, of being covered in His perfect righteousness, be an ever present source of joy and strength, an unchanging and unchangeable state of being because God is gracious toward you, not wanting you to perish but to have everlasting life.

Whenever a baptism into Christ Jesus takes place there is joy both in heaven and on earth, for it is by this means that God the Father snatches poor sinners out of the jaws of death, placing them into Jesus who has already died your death and now lives and rules to all eternity for you. The water is drawn joyously. It is poured over you abundantly, and it is declared to you simply, elegantly, and in all truth. You name is now God's name. Your life is now hidden in Christ Jesus.

No, there may not be a lot of amazing feelings, or even a lots of amazing tricks, tips, feats, and outward wonders, but where the waters of Holy Baptism are drawn and applied, the full gifts of all that belong to Christ and His church are freely given without prior expectations on your part, for no dead person ever brought himself to life. It is the work of God, since He has raised Christ Jesus from the dead, also to bring you who were dead to life.

Without question you have a battle on your hands on this account, but it is not yours to fight by your own reason or strength. Rather, Christ is at work in you to will and to do His good pleasure, tenderly drawing you forward in love, able to sympathize with your weakness, for He has born them in His own body unto death. Yet He lives. In you.

Not all the water in the world - of which there is great abundance and which is a gracious provision for bodily needs and beauty - but the water drawn from the springs of salvation. The water comprehended in and connected with the Word and promises of God, Who does not lie but is faithful. That is the water joyously drawn from the springs of salvation with which you are baptized.

(The Fourth Sunday in Lent; Ruth Eleanor Osbun) + + +