Buried with Christ

Colossians 2:12
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”

When my time comes, I want whoever is in charge of my body to make sure I am truly gone. Completely dead. Out of this world. I’ve read stories—strange, unsettling ones—about people with cataplexy, a rare condition that causes complete paralysis while the person remains conscious. One woman, June Burchell, reportedly woke up in the morgue not once, but three times!

This reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said about baptism: it’s not just a symbolic washing—it’s a burial. The person we were before Christ is dead. The habits, the sins, the former self—they’re all meant to be buried. In Christ, we are baptized into His death and raised into His life. The old person is gone. The new person is alive in Christ.

But just like those stories of people who seemed dead but weren’t, the old self has a way of trying to wake up again. The key is to keep him buried. Don’t leave room for the old life in your new one. Learn the ways of the new person you are in Christ. Live like a child of God. Learn His voice. Trust His plan. Stay connected in prayer. Let the Holy Spirit lead you.

The old life may knock, but you don’t have to answer. Your future is in the Spirit—full of truth, full of victory, full of the eternal blessings found only in Christ.

With Gratitude, Pastor Jesse