Moving into deeper waters is just another description of the journey of and into faith that God calls us to. The metaphor comes from a story in the Bible in the 47th Chapter of the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. An angel of the Lord appears to the prophet and in a vision shows him a spring flowing from the temple of the Lord and becoming a strong, flowing river. The angel instructs the prophet to walk out into the water a ways, the water is up to the prophet's ankles. After a pause the angel instructs the prophet to move into deeper water, up to his knees. This process is repeated several more times- to the waist, to the neck, and finally over his head... A relationship with God is like that. We ALL begin standing on the bank, looking out over the water. It is beautiful and inviting. The water is "life giving" (both in the Biblical story and in real life). We feel the tug in our spirits, like that in the heart of a child standing on the edge of the ocean, to run play in the water, to feel it's refreshing, life giving essence, to immerse ourselves in it, to enjoy it. For all the other things religion has tried to make a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, I believe this is the essence. God desires for us to enter a process whereby we intentionally and incrementally immerse ourselves in His love, His presence, His forgiveness, His grace, HIM. He is the life giving water- or as Jesus said the "living water"- for which each of our hearts long. Every relationship with God begins with this longing and ends with the fulfillment of this longing as we enter into His full presence after we die and are released from the limitations of our human bodies which separate us from Him today. Have you felt that longing? Do you know that stirring in your soul as you experience some wonder of His creation or act of His love through a faithful human that causes you to ask, "does God really exist and really care about us?" If so, you are standing on the bank. If you want to you can move out a little bit into the water- "test" them if you will. Listen to your heart. Examine your feelings. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and really expect an answer. Move into deeper waters.

Let me know how it goes.

Deeper Waters

When I was a kid my folks would often take us for a picnic at the beach on the way to Aunt Edna's. Sometimes we would have on shorts or swimsuits, some times not. There are few things in life more frustrated than little kids at the beach being told they can't go in the water. We would stand on the edge and wish. We would sneak in a toe or even roll up our pants and try a foot. But always, the real fun, we knew, was in the deeper waters. Life is like that sometimes... we stand on the edge wanting to dive in... and in fact the Bible calls us to move into "deeper waters"... but we don't, or can't, or won't. Check back here often for encouragement and lessons on how to move into the deeper waters of a faith in God that is growing. Who knows, maybe like the salt stains on our shorts that told Aunt Edna we had been in the water, some of what we share here might stick on you, and people might just see a little God in you.