Do you desire to be loved by someone? Do you want to be called their beloved? Have you considered you are loved? Do you know that God loves you? Are you following his Beloved One?
We all want to be loved. It is part of our being. Because we are created in the image of God, we want to be loved, and we want to share our love. Go also wants us to share his love with others.
One way we can demonstrate our love for God is to obey his commands. Jesus gave the command to His disciples to baptize believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Therefore, we can follow His command by being baptized ourselves.
Jesus also states that if we love Him, we will keep (obey) His commandments (John 14:15). The two great commands to love God and love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40) are the most important. He says that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commands. In other words, if we are obeying those two commands, we are following the law of God.
Jesus was obeying the Father when He was baptized. He was setting an example for us. It is important for us to follow His example. Perhaps that is why we restate our baptismal vows when we participate in someone else’s baptism.
I pray we all desire and honestly seek to obey Jesus’ commands. I pray we love God and love our neighbor. I pray each one of us will demonstrate God’s love to everyone we encounter each day. Know that God loves you. Seek to obey Jesus. Share God’s love with others.
Luke 3:21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Marty Pressey 