Last week I watched several children at my church in Colorado undergo the ancient Christian rite of baptism. A couple of days ago, here in New York City, my wife and I along with family and friends celebrated the baptism of our granddaughter.

As I watched these baptisms I realized that the future of the Christian faith is in the tub. These freshly baptized believers will lead our churches in the future. Embracing the faith through good times and bad, they will love their neighbors as themselves, and spread the gospel around the globe.

John the Baptist explained why he baptized masses of people in Israel before revealing Jesus:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

John baptized to reveal Jesus to Israel. We baptize our children, and all who pledge their allegiance to Jesus, to reveal Jesus to our society. This immersion ritual remains the longest running public indicator of our faith.

Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus?

John 1 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by kaleb tapp

Celebrities caught in a nefarious misdeed look into the camera and say—I’m sorry—even though it’s obvious they aren’t sorry at all, only sorry they got caught. As if the magic words I’m sorry diffuse the air of all wrongs. No one falls for shallow apologies.

Like famous folks, we all attempt to cover our sin by mollifying those we’ve sinned against. Perhaps we buy their forgiveness with money or gifts. Often we rely on fast talking to get us out of a jam. I like to play the victim card. It’s really not my fault—blame my bad acts on neglectful teachers or hateful bosses or junk food. The devil made me do it.

The Bible shares a different perspective on the way to treat each other when we rub in not-so-good ways:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Peter, the writer, addressed a group of people living and worshipping in close proximity. These folks endured a challenging era, facing daily insults and threats due to their new-found faith. With plenty of opportunities to get on each other’s nerves, he called for hospitality layered with service and prayer.

Under stress, nerves grow raw and words come quick. People clamp down and seek to control. In such situations sincere love soothes the jangles. Knowing that others in my community look to me with love helps me overlook comments I might otherwise misconstrue.

I can’t help but sin at times, just like my brothers and sisters. But by experiencing a depth of love infused through the Holy Spirit, we may move beyond the petty and into the deeper issues life presents.

1 Peter 4 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Sean Mungur

Every few weeks the same emphasis pops up in my Bible. Referred to over and over by various authors, I’m surprised by its ubiquitous nature. This week I noticed it in a passage where Peter encouraged church members to serve one another in kindness and deference. He wrote:

God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.

In earlier corners of the Good Book a variety of authors laid the foundation for Peter. Here’s a few samples:

He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed (Proverbs 3:34).

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom (Proverbs 11:2).

Jesus got in on the act: For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:11).

Paul followed as well: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves (Philippians 2:3).

As evidenced by these inspired writings, the Lord values humility. Jesus and his apostles modeled this way of life, and now encourage us forward. Humility may appear challenging, but it’s actually freeing. No need to posture or preen for the Lord or for each other.

The foe of humility is selfishness, vanity, arrogance—and all other elements of pride. Again and again the Bible speaks against delighted self-importance.

But humility? The Lord cannot get enough. A humble spirit allows me to follow God fully and relax in his favor.

1 Peter 5 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Orkun Azap

Sports betting ads swarm my screen when I tune in to watch football. The oddsmakers predict winners and losers, often to a high degree of accuracy. But not enough for me to place a bet—I want a sure thing.

The Bible’s prophecies pay off way better than gambling on quarterbacks. A great number have already proven true, like the prophecies of the coming Messiah. Others, like the predictions of the return of that Messiah, still wait to be fulfilled. But don’t bet against them.

Jeremiah predicted the downfall of Babylon, the greatest city in the world at that time. Under King Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon grew as large as Chicago, filled with elaborate temples, ornate palaces and surrounded by city walls wide enough for two chariots to pass each other side by side on the top.

At the height of the city’s glory the Lord sent a message through Jeremiah: Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.

Not long after Jeremiah, Babylon fell to the Persians. A couple of centuries later a new set of invaders sacked the city, and the long slide into oblivion gained speed. Conquerors and archeologists picked the area clean.

Today a recreation of some buildings exists on the site, a cheap tourist attraction built by Saddam Hussein. But no one lives there. The once magnificent city lies in perpetual ruin, just as the scriptures predicted.

Which helps me understand that when it comes to the words of the prophets, I can place a bet with confidence.

Jeremiah 51 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Corbin Mathias