URC Daily Devotion Friday, 17 October 2025

St Matthew 3: 13 – 17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’  But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented.  And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

Reflection

Following Jesus’ example, Baptism is still today part of our lives as Christians marking the start of our journey and commitment to following as disciples of Jesus Christ. For many of us our baptism will now be many years ago, and may even have taken place when we were just a few months old, so holding on to its significance can maybe feel hard. Yet whenever it took place, and whether we remember the event and the promises made, our baptism is a happening which offers to change our lives significantly, if we allow it.

So inspired by this account of Jesus’ own baptism by John in the river Jordan,  I invite you to consider these ‘What If’s’, and allow the power of our baptisms to transform our lives anew. 
•    What if we lived as if our baptism, however long ago it may have been, was a present reality?
•    What if we lived as if we believed it had a transformative effect on our daily lives?
•    What if we lived as if all our past regrets and wrongdoing have been washed away?
•    What if we lived as if we are in that moment of elation and freedom, bursting out of the water?
•    What if we lived as if Heaven had burst open and we could see clearly how the world was meant to be?
•    What if we lived as if we could see the Spirit alive and active in transforming our world.
•    What if we lived as though we could hear the voice of God in our lives, speaking only words of encouragement and love?
If we allowed ourselves to live as if all those things were true, how would our life be?

Prayer

Spirit of God,
who descended on Jesus like a dove,
rest on us now and fill us with your love.

Inspire us anew by your Spirit
to see the world as you would have it be
and work for its transformation. 
Today and always
as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Amen.