Dedicated

Over the weekend we celebrated with my brother and sister-in-law in dedicating their little girl to Jesus and committing to raise her in a Godly way. It was quite the big event with 23 other families making the same commitment. You might be familiar with baby Christenings or Baptisms, and wondering what a baby dedication is all about. A dedication is not a Christening or a Baptism. It's not a means of salvation in Jesus for the child. It's not about the child at all, really. It's about the parents making the choice to raise their children in Christ, and to invite friends and family members to hold them to that standard as well as help them raise that child in a Christ-like way. Babies are unable to make a decision to follow Christ at first. So, it begins with the parents choosing to raise their children to follow Him, which can (and hopefully will) lead to that child making their own choice to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior when they are old enough to understand that decision. Then, once that decision has been made, they can take the step to get baptized, declaring publicly (and following in obedience to Scripture) that they trust Jesus and choose to follow Him with the rest of their life. What a huge task given to us all, but one that, with God's grace (and through no power of our own) is a welcomed one.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6

A prayer for our niece as she grows older:

P.S. The word on the street is the next dedication is in August of this year. That means it'll be our turn to dedicate our child to Jesus and make the public commitment to raise him or her in a Godly way along with our families and friends. Now that's something I didn't think we'd be a part of so soon and makes this pregnancy just a little bit more of a reality!