What are you holding out of the water?

The old timers will say, 'if Jesus is not the Lord of all then He is not Lord at all.' We can not play at christianity, it is not that sort of endeavor; one cannot treat it like a buffet, eating the foods we like and leaving others untasted; it is rather like water, one either drinks it down or does not.

Jesus does not want to make our lives better, he wants to destroy our lives and give us His own to replace it...

God is more like a wild lover than a remote philanthropic benefactor.

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"You remember that among the Franks, whole armies were sometimes given baptism at one stroke, and many warriors went into the water with their right hands held high, so that they did not get wet. Then they could say, 'This hand has never been baptized,' and they could swing their battle axes just as freely as ever. The modern counterpart of that partial baptism is seen in many people who have been baptized, all except their pocketbooks. They held these high out of the water."

-Halford Luccock

What are you holding out of the water?

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This of course begs the question:

I am totally committed! But I find that my commitment is not enough to bring change, my moods overwhelm me and I slip back into old habits! What am I to do?

We are in good company...

We read in the twelfth chapter of Romans, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." The tricky thing about a 'living sacrifice' is that (unlike a dead one) it can crawl right back off of the altar; which makes our act of self-sacrifice a constant state of decision and repentance, as opposed to a singular event.

Just so, we are to jump into the baptismal waters of death and resurrection, knowing full well that our resolution to live whole-heartedly for our Master will need constant renewal and continued recommitment. But ultimately, it is the Spirit of Christ within us that brings change, from the inner person outward.