Full Immersion (Friday Devotional)

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.”

- Colossians 3:9-10

Sam Houston is one of the most distinctive figures in the history of both our state and our nation: he served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, as Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Army and then as its first president, and as governor of Tennessee and, decades later, Texas. He was also, however, a notorious drunk, brawler, and all-around scoundrel, nearly as infamous around Texas for his drinking binges and fistfights as for his military and political accomplishments.

So it was no small feat when, guided by his third wife Margaret, he came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at the age of 63 and committed to living for the Lord for the rest of his life. Dozens of people in and around Independence, Texas gathered at Little Rocky Creek to see Rufus Burleson, the president of Baylor University, baptize Houston. But before Burleson immersed the senator, he pointed out to him that he might want to set aside his fine leather wallet, which Houston had failed to remove when he changed into his baptismal clothes. “No, I believe not, pastor,” said Houston with a smile. “I’m afraid it needs baptizing too.”

We can all learn something from Sam Houston’s witness in this case, because sometimes we prefer to leave parts of our lives unbaptized. Whether in the cutthroat world of business, in conversations with friends, or even—as Houston cleverly indicated—in the ways we spend our money, it’s tempting to keep God at arm’s length. The sad truth is that, for many, faith is something compartmentalized and siphoned away from those areas of life where following Jesus is inconvenient.

But the Bible makes clear that when you accept Jesus as Lord, there is no room for casual commitment. “You have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self,” says Paul. Faith in Christ is not about self-improvement or behavioral modification, but about total transformation.

The greatest commandment, Jesus says, is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength—in other words, with everything you have to give. So take a moment to ask, am I living up to that command, or have I declared parts of my life off limits to God? Like Sam Houston’s wallet, maybe those things need to be baptized too.