Introduction

In 1991, while serving as the pastor of First Lutheran Church, Potter, Neb., and Grace Lutheran Church, Gurley, Neb., I prepared a second series of six daily devotions, calling the collection “Baptized in the Name: Devotions for the Harvest.” This is the first in the collection.

Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

“We give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth.” (Martin Luther’s Flood Prayer, Holy Baptism, Lutheran Book of Worship, p. 122)

Devotion

Just as the Holy Spirit moved over the waters at creation, making a good world for God’s creatures, so the Spirit has moved over the waters of our Baptism, making us good children of God.

Luther reminds us to thank God for the gift of creation, so that we will remember our re-creation through the Water and Word of Baptism.

When we doubt our own worth, when we struggle with sin, when we feel trapped in a cruel world, God calls us to return to our Baptismal waters and to receive re-created life through Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Creator God, forgive us when we sin, and by your re-creating Spirit, recall us to the new life we receive through the Water and the Word; in Christ’s name. Amen.

Ut in Omnibus Glorificetur Deus