Deeper Water

"When He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water..." Luke 5:4 (HCS)

Growing up in a family that owned a public swimming pool, I spent a couple of days at the pool, and in the water from as far back as I can remember.

My family tells me that when I was just a toddler, my brother was in the deep end of the pool and teasing me to "come on in," and reportedly I did. That one incident did not fulfill my desire for the deep end of the pool though. At the age of about 5 or so, my Mom witnessed me swimming from pole to pole along the rope which divided the deep and shallow end. I remember my own children wanting to get to the deep end of the pool too.

The singing group Casting Crowns has a song entitled "Somewhere in the Middle" an excerpt that leaps out at me is...
"Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control"

How close can I get to submitting to God and still keep my ____________________?
WOW! What a huge question.

Jesus tells Peter to put out to the deep water for a catch. Peter has no idea how deep Jesus is calling him to go. I think sometimes neither do we.

Romans 12:1 calls for us to be living sacrifices to God,holy and acceptable living sacrifices. That means that I must be willing to place myself on the altar the same way that Abraham did with Isaac.

The question that is before each of us is, "Am I willing to give up my dreams for His?"
I cannot have a deep water faith and stay in the shallow end...It is time to take the plunge.

Comments

maribug said…
Great thought today, JB!
11:01 AM
Letters in RED said…
Thanks for giving me something to chew on Bro Bond!
4:07 PM
Anonymous said…
I totally understand what you are talking about. It is a hard reality to realize that we need to constantly give our all - all of the time - and let God use us however He chooses. We need to be willing to face whatever circumstance He wants to put us in - both simple and difficult.
10:27 PM
Anonymous said…
I once was able to tread water for 45 minutes to an hour at a time--it took being relaxed, practice and being in the deep water. Would that be what we need in our daily walk? When I taught children to tread, I taught basic skills first, then encouraged meeting a goal starting with 10 seconds and increased goal in increments as they gained confidence. We started in water barely over their heads and gradually moved deeper. When they needed to tread for 5 or 10 minutes, I encouraged them to go to a "happy place" and not to concentrate on how much longer. One thing I found is that the first minute always seemed to be the hardest and as they relaxed and established a rhythm, it seemed to become easier. So, if we have our focus on things above as we met the challenges of our daily life and we practice heading the call, maybe we can submit to His will in our lives. MOM
6:26 AM
Kenny said…
That was not teasing.That was my attempt to get you to stretch your abilities and courage. You have always been gifted. You eventually quit looking for family and friend challenges and began to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. That was no more evident that the day you came to tell me about your decision on going to seminary. I firmly believe that when we get comfortable in the deep end of the pool, He has us look up to realize that there is an ocean out there! Keep taking his challenges,take the plunges and dive deep. Love,K
6:58 AM
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