Summer Break

Summer is the much anticipated and favorite time of the year for most kids. Getting to play outside, go swimming, stay up later, are but a few of the reasons why it is so beloved. However, perhaps the main reason is because they get a “break” from the seemingly never-ending cycle of school. The same could be said for adults who receive an equally desired “break” from their weekly work grind in the form of vacation. Regardless of age, all people enjoy a bit of time off from their responsibilities. It gives them an opportunity to relax both mind and body, which allows the proverbial “recharging” of the batteries. As beneficial as this much-needed time off is, there is one aspect of our lives that we cannot and should not take a “break” from. That aspect is being a Christian!

Unfortunately, many people view their Christianity much like they do their jobs or schoolwork. Those who hold this mindset attend church services on Sundays, and perhaps a mid-week Bible study, but then take the rest of the week off from being a Christian. There is no distinction from the rest of the world. Being a Christian is not a one or two day a week obligation. In fact, the Apostle Paul speaks in terms of the Christian actually dying to the old self. Answering the question of whether the Christian should continue in sin, he says “How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:2-4 NASB).

Once a person is baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins, they die to that old self, and arise out of the water a new person. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul gave a long list of those who would not inherit the kingdom, but then said “Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…”(6:9-11). Our Christianity is not like our jobs or school, in which we can take a “break” from, nor should we desire to do so. Let us praise God and live in such a way that represents the new life we receive when we are washed in the waters of baptism.