Baptism to rebirth

Vacationing this past week on the steamy Colorado River where desert temperatures topped off at 124 degrees, I found myself pondering the meaning of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River. Where our family’s vacation home is situated at the foot of Parker Dam, the water is drawn from the bottom of Lake Havasu, leaving it shockingly cold to dive into when you’ve been roasting in the inferno-like conditions.

Standing perched to dive in, I would look deeply into the darkness of the rushing emerald river teeming with life. My body knows the shock that awaits it in the plunge, but just like in baptism,...