Take the dive!

I've never actually water skied, but I've seen it done many times. It looks so cool as the skier is gliding on the top of the water and going over the wakes from the boat pulling it around the lake. I learned to swim at a young age, so anything to do with water, like a swimming pool, ocean or lake always excited me.

While at the beach a few years ago, I remember seeing people go across the top of the water with surfboards and boats. As I stood scanning the horizon, I saw a very large, hump backed whale, jump high out of the water. It was fantastic! and although he was very far away, he still looked very BIG! I had a thought about how small those people on the boards and boats looked compared to this magnificent creature of the sea.

One afternoon while at the beach the water rush up on my feet and I started to wade around in it a bit. It was so powerful and very inviting! I knew there were things under the surface that were much bigger than me, so I was a bit timid at first when I decided to go snorkeling for the first time. As I put on a mask and snorkel I started walking toward the water with some hesitancy. I saw others moving toward the water too, so it encouraged me to keep moving forward in my uneasiness. I really did want to see what was below the surface and the only way that was going to happen was to step beyond my fear and take the plunge. On top of the water, I could see a few things, but what was waiting for me to discover below….were many beautiful fish, gliding turtles, brilliant coral, I even saw a few reef sharks and an eery eel.

What if I had just stayed on top of the water, saw a whale every once in a while and never went into the depths of the all the ocean had to offer? Yes, I saw a BIG whale, but that was just skimming the surface.

Let’s take a “dive” into a spiritual view on this.

These two scriptures give us deeper view of God’s love and care for his children.

In Romans 8:38-39

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 3:17-19

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Growing in the Depth of God's Love

When we are in a new relationship with someone, there can be a time of just skimming the surface and sharing what you're comfortable with. As you spend time with that person, you may start finding out that you have some common life experiences, likes, and dislikes. Continuing on in the time you spend together, there can become those moments where you have a choice to go a little deeper, maybe by sharing something in your life that makes you feel a bit vulnerable. This isn’t something you do right away, you wait until trust has been established, to share.

So, the same is with Jesus! When we first come to know Him, (metaphorically) we may strap on some water skiis and begin skimming the top of the water with our Christianity. Just like when I was timid at first with snorkeling, we can be timid in how to start our walk with Jesus. In the beginning we just need to show up at the beach or in this case, show up for time with Jesus. Start a simple prayer with Him right away in the morning. Nothing complicated, just “good morning, Jesus”. Then as you continue to show up in the morning to be with Him, you can go a bit deeper and add more dialogue with Him. He’s a great listener. I love in Genesis where God would come into the garden and walk and talk with Adam. He wants us to know Him and He loves to share Himself with us. Then the more we learn and grow in the relationship, we can start to share some deeper things with Him.

We see that Jesus had those deep times with His Father in the Garden of Gethsemene.

John 12:27

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

The word BUT is so important in this verse. It shows us that Jesus had already spent those times across the table in deep conversation with His Father before this moment. I love the humanness of Jesus as he reveals to us his thoughts and emotions and then shows us how we can choose to step beyond our fears, our struggles, our disappointments and lonliness and take the plunge into God's incredible love for us.

How could He do this? First, he took off the skiis and dove in! I know this can be scary, especially when we've spent all of our time perfecting our skiiing skills, but God want us to dive in and swim in His love and care for us.

If our Father can be trusted in the shallow, he can most definetly be trusted in the deep. Has he been talking to you? Has he been wanting to share His Life with you? I encourage you to take the plunge! Step out, start a conversation and He will be there!

Let Jesus become your entry point into a fullness like you've never known! Going to church, reading the Bible, hanging with church people, feeding the poor, going to conferences about Jesus are just on the surface. He wants us to dive in and give Him our attention for a beautiful, eternal-life long relationship. Let’s go Diving!

In His great Love,

Dayna