We headed out quite early that morning. The sun had not yet risen when we hit the trail. We had a good long hike planned for the day.

The hollow and small stream I photographed during a hike in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

A Beautiful Hollow

            Near the beginning of the hike a series of cascades splashed through a small hollow. The fall foliage that graced the trees combined with the cascade to make a beautiful, peaceful scene. Unfortunately the predawn light provided little illumination for photographs. Plus we had all that hiking to do. I planned to photograph the hollow on our way out.

I see this photo as a metaphor for baptism. When a believer gets baptized he gets buried under the water and rises to a new life in Christ.

            When we returned the water, the trees and the color of the leaves provided a great photo opportunity. The leaves beneath the water particularly caught my attention. They just laid beneath the water as it flowed over them.
        A Picture of Baptism

           One leaf caught my attention more than the others (photo to the left). I took a number of photographs of it. The photos I took remind me of baptism. In a since the leaf in the photograph has died and is covered by the water. In a future spring or summer it will provide nourishment for the growth of plants to come. In a sense it will become new life.

           For the Christ follow baptism symbolizes our spiritual death and our death to ourselves. We go under water and the water rushes over us. We are then raised with Christ by the power of his resurrection into a new life with Him and into the family of God.

Essential for the Believer

Step in and be baptized.

           Baptism is an essential step in the life of a believer. Romans 4:6 Says, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Colossians 2:12 says, “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

            If you have never been baptized I’d encourage you to do so to “walk in the newness of life.”