It is called Guppy Class. Our nearly five-year-old grandson is learning to swim. He is learning to get used to the water, how to go under the water, how to float, and so on. Water covers three-fourths of the earth and is necessary for our existence. The Bible refers to water frequently in symbolic ways, so we should not be surprised that water impacts all of us in one way or another. Learning to swim is only one of those ways.
When you go swimming, do you gradually go into deeper water, or do you find the deep water and jump right in? Our grandson’s teacher gently introduced him to the various depths.
Ankle-Deep Faith?
Some of us are content to walk through water that is ankle deep. That requires a minimum adjustment on our part. We take off our shoes, roll up our pants legs a little, and easily move through ankle-deep water. In fact it’s so shallow we can easily run through it. We come out of it. We roll down our pants legs and put on our shoes. People can’t even tell we’ve been in the water. Sometimes our faith is like that. It doesn’t inconvenience us much. We make a minimum adjustment.
Others of us have knee-deep faith. It is not quite as convenient as ankle-deep faith. It slows us down a little more. Knee-deep water is not as easy to run through; in most instances, we have to walk through it. It inconveniences us some, but not much. We can still wear the same clothes, but we have to roll our pant legs higher and step a little higher.
And then there is waist-high faith. It requires an even greater effort. Now we cannot hide the fact that we’ve been in the water.
In-Over-Your-Head Faith?
Ezekiel came out of the waist-high water and walked a little farther, and the Spirit directed him to step into the water again. He was then in the river so deep that he could no longer walk through it. He had to develop a faith of complete submission. This type of faith doesn’t allow us to hold any dry areas back. We give ourselves completely to God. We’re no longer standing on our own feet or trying to walk through on our own power. Ezekiel’s vision showed a river of life flowing from the temple of ancient Israel. Christians are God’s present day temple. Our faith must flow out so the cleansing gospel message will bring healing and growth to those in the “class of guppies” we influence. |L
Larry D. Pierson is the preaching minister of the Jamestown Christian Church, Jamestown, Indiana. He and his wife Ruth Ann have two children and two grandchildren.
