Skip to main content

The Deep End



            I saw a cartoon last which in which a couple is talking to a preacher and the wife says, “If you promise that he won’t have to say anything, sing anything or give anything, Harvey is ready to become a member of the church”.  That might be funny if it was not so true.  Many people, it seems, think that their spiritual life consists of showing up, sitting through a service and then going home.  Put in your hour per week and you have been faithful.  Unfortunately, that simply does not work. 

           Some things in life are only learned by doing.  You can read all kinds of books about driving a car, but you will not be able to handle stopping on an icy road until you get behind the wheel and do it a few times.  You can read all the romance novels you want, but you will not know what dating is really like until you go on a date.  Your first day at work will remain a mystery until you fill out the application, get a job and go in for your first day.  Faith works the same way.  While salvation is a free gift of God’s grace, until you do something about it, until you try to live your faith, it is all just theory and good ideas. 

           That is the point of Romans chapter twelve.  It begins, “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (verse 1).  The chapter then goes on to list more than fifty different ways that they could put their “worship” in action.  The list includes things like: serve, encourage, give, show mercy, be cheerful, be generous, cling to what is good, be joyful, be hopeful, be patient, practice hospitality, living in harmony with others, feed your enemies and (the last line of the chapter that sums it all up) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (for a full list see Romans 12:2-21).  Obviously, faith is meant to be an active, not passive.

            When I was young, my mom used to take me to a paddle pool at a park near our house.  I would splash around in there and think that I was swimming.  In reality, I was not “swimming” so much as I was “crawling” on the bottom of the pool.

            The point:  You cannot learn to swim in the paddling pool.  If you want to really swim, you have to go to the deep end.

            Similarly, faith will never mature if we only play around in the shallow end.  For faith to deepen it must be active and alive.

The deep end awaits.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: The Biggest Problem Is Not Out There!

In a time when everyone has a vocal opinion on everything and judgment is everywhere, maybe we need to reconsider the words of Jesus. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).  Here are two observations to consider. First, when we look for what others are doing wrong, we are starting in the wrong place.  “Take the log out of your eye” is the first move.  Start with yourself!  It is easy to judge others and make excuses for ourselves.  Yet, that is completely backwards! If we are honest, we never get past making ourselves better.  There is always more to do.  This, then, leaves very little time to point out...
Post a Comment
Read more