Dive In

 

by Ryan Duncan, crosswalk.com

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. – Galatians 5:13

One summer when I was younger, my church organized a week-long camping trip to Glacier National Park for all the high school boys. It was after one particularly long day of hiking that a few of us decided we’d cool off by taking a swim in a nearby lake. So we grabbed our swim trunks and towels and ran full speed into the lake, desperate to escape the summer heat. Now, I’m going to pause here and ask two questions…

First Question: Where does the water in these lakes come from?

Answer: Well, ice from the glacier melts and runs down through the waterfalls until it empties out into the lake.

Second Question: Does the water ever get warm?

Answer: No

The moment our feet hit the water we were stopped cold. We all stood ankle deep trying to figure out what to do next. A handful of the boys tried to edge gradually into the water, but after almost twenty minutes they still hadn’t made it past their knees. As for me and a few other boys, we decided it was best not to wait. We dove headfirst into the water. For a time it was unbelievably cold, but eventually our bodies adjusted and we spent the entire afternoon diving and swimming far out in the lake.

Followers of Christ can encounter the same problem my friends and I had on the beach of that lake. God wants us to dive headfirst into the Christian life, to forget our worries and troubles and just focus on Him. Instead, many of us will stand on the fringes of our faith, trying to slowly and comfortably ease our way into God’s plan for our lives. We aren’t meant to stand in the shallows of God’s love, however, so even though jumping in can be difficult at first, it’s the best way. Only by surrendering to God as the center of our lives do we become truly free.