Lesson No.1 from Jesus

5Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!
Philippians 2:5-7 (The Message)

I read Matthew this morning. I am in search of how Jesus lived his life. It is important for what is to come in the future to trust Jesus for salvation from eternal damnation and separation from him. But it is my belief that faith is Jesus is for more than the afterlife. It is also for more than the hard times. Jesus is always faithful and sees us through the hard times, no doubt. But our everyday, boring, work-eat-sleep lives require faith in Jesus as well.
I also know that I cannot live as Jesus without the power of the Holy Spirit in me. But study of Jesus life will reveal to me the things he did and the words he spoke. It gives the Spirit something to work with, so to speak.
And there in Matthew 3, Jesus goes out to John the Baptist to be baptized. John was baptizing for repentance, something Jesus never had to do. He had no sin to repent of. And yet there we find Jesus submitting himself to what we must do in order to fulfill all righteousness.
I pondered this attitude of Jesus. The Message says it like this, "God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism." In other words, this is the beginning of something we've all been waiting for.
The story of redemption began to climax at that moment. God sent his Spirit, like a dove, down to Jesus. He told all who were listening that this was his son and he is very happy with him. From there, Jesus entered the wilderness to face his trials.
It was a first step for Jesus and for mankind. Repentance and baptism were new ideas for the Israelites. Even the leaders of the Israelites were trying to get in on it. This repentance and baptism made the pathway to your heart straight for Jesus.
Jesus did what his fellow man was doing. He did not place himself in a place of stature as he had every right to do. But he let a fiery madman from the wilderness put him under water as a sign of repentance. Humility. In doing this, he pleased his Father.
If Jesus was not too good to take part in baptism, what about us? We actually have sins to repent from, and yet we so often ignore them. Then we wonder why we have a hard time hearing God. When God called and spoke, Jesus heard him because nothing was in the way. Lesson number one from Jesus, keep sin as far away as you can. When you fall, repent and make the pathway straight.