Son's Baptism!

Today after the Lord's Table Meeting, during lunchtime a brother came to me and told me that three children in the church wanted to take water baptism. It was a surprise to me initially. But as I reconsidered the good news, I realized that the time indeed has come for these ones to be baptized. Later, my wife came and told me that our son, Amana Palmei, aged 12, and two others who are just in their teens wanted to be baptized. Then I told her that we could gather them together and have a time of fellowship with them. After lunch, the three children; two brothers and a sister,  me and my wife, the parent of another brother, and some serving ones, sat together for fellowship. I simply asked the ones who wanted to be baptized to share whatever they have to share.

One by one, the three of them shared their desire to be baptized. They were so excited to be baptized! A brother shared first and testified how he has been wanting to be baptized for quite some time now. He has been waiting and waiting. He believed into the Lord Jesus Christ already. He has been enjoying all the children's meetings, reading the Bible, praying, and participating in the church life. Therefore, he felt very strongly that he need to be baptized to have a new beginning in his Christian life. Then my son shared how he has been a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ and wants to live a life as a child of God in the kingdom of God and that he wanted to be baptized. Then, a sister shared that she need to be baptized as she believed into the Lord Jesus Christ and was very excited to be baptized. Since her mother was not present, I asked her to check with her mother too, which she did, and exclaimed that her mother was so happy to allow her to be baptized.

Then I shared briefly the spiritual significance of baptism by using a verse:

Mk 16:16He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.

And also briefly explained that baptism is an outward confirmation of our inward believing into the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and as the true and living God, and baptism is not a ritual at all. They should not even expect that after baptism some miraculous change will happen, NO. Baptism is a termination of the past sinful life we received by natural birth and a germination of a new life in Christ Jesus. This is the entering into the kingdom of God, a spiritual transfer from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God, becoming a member of the house of God, a child of God, and other points... Then, we all prayed for them and they themselves prayed for themselves for their baptisms too.

The father of another teenage brother and myself baptized the three of them after having a time of hymn singing and prayer. The Lord has granted us this mercy that we could baptize our own sons into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit! 

In January 2011 the Lord graced me to baptize my father and on 20 November 2022, eleven years after, He graced me again to baptize my son!

In fact, as a family we have been praying for all our children to be graced by the Lord, to be preserved from the world and the attacks of the enemy, and that they would be saved and be baptized. These prayers have been answered by God! For our daughters, a few months ago and for our son, today! Though  I did not expect to receive the answer so soon, the Lord in His own best time, moved in the hearts of the children and they themselves came forward with much conviction and desire to be baptized. I could not say anything contrary to the work of the Holy Spirit in them. I simply thanked the Lord and let him be baptized!

In the evening, a brother proposed that he and his family would like to give lovefest to the children as rejoicing for the Lord's blessing upon our shildren. We all went to dine at a restaurant and enjoyed a sumptuous meal together. We thanked the Lord for His blessings upon our children.

As we came back, I went before the Lord to thank and worship Him for all He has done and has been doing in my life and my family. What else can I say but thank and praise the Lord! I worshipped Him for His wisdom and sovereignty. I thanked Him for answering all our prayers. As we also prayed for the salvation of many in Gurugram, the Lord also saved our own children one by one. Blessings indeed start from within;  from within the family and within the church! 

I have no words, but praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!