Dressed for the occasion

My eldest has a way of asking questions that really make me think. And often, she asks them at the most inappropriate time.

For example: Standing in front of the entire congregation of our church, while they are all quietly listening to the pastor discuss the meaning of baptism, is not the most opportune time to ask, quite loudly, "Why is Jacob wearing a dress?"

But it's a good question, and deserves an answer. We dressed our child in the family baptismal gown--the one Nana worked so hard on, and the one worn by all my children--because baptism is a special ceremony, much like a wedding, and special attire suits the occasion. But aside from that, nothing happened on Sunday.

Rather, I should say, nothing supernatural happened on Sunday. It is a sweet ceremony, to be sure, and significant insofar as it is commanded by God that we, as Christian parents, baptize our infants. But it did nothing to change our son's status as a sinner before a holy God.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

-Ephesians 2:8-9

It will be a while before Sunday's sprinkling ceremony means anything to Jacob. It carries weight for his dad and I, because we stood before our family and the family of believers in our church and promised to raise this child to know and love the Lord. We pledged to pray with and for him, and now we trust God to be faithful to His covenant, to work in our son's sinful heart, to soften it and change it so that one day Jacob will come to a saving knowledge of Christ's work on the cross for him.

I pray anxiously for that day. And when that day comes, and God grips my son's heart with his irresistible grace, it will be a joy to look back with him and tell him about the day he received the sign of God's covenant promise, and to celebrate God's faithfulness in keeping His promise to bring Jacob to salvation through faith.

That is, after all, why he wore the dress.