Swim Deeper

Let me give you a word picture based on a dream that I had this morning. Imagine yourself at an idyllic cottage area just after noon on a calm and bright summer day. There's just enough of a breeze to cool you down but not enough to make you cold if you're in the water. There's a small lake with a few people swimming or boating. You have swum out from the shore to a small floating platform, the small square kind made of wood with a simple ladder up the side. It's the kind of platform that tires you out when you swim to it but it's fun to dive from it or sunbathe a while and then eventually swim back to shore.

God was telling me, "Don't swim further, swim deeper."

In our lives, we gradually discover our main calling. The purpose or focus to which we love to devote ourselves, that inspires us and keeps us going. For me, my two main areas are worship and discipleship, possibly in that order. For others, it may be teaching or pastoring or being a parent.

Once we have found our calling, our lake, we are not meant to move to other lakes. There may be other lakes nearby or other rivers. These lakes and rivers may be very pleasant and attractive themselves. Other people may be there already or people may move from your lake to the other ones. Even so, we're to stay in the lake that we found.

The purpose of this instruction is not to hinder us from moving. The purpose is not to limit us, to put borders around us or to stop us from learning. Instead, the purpose is that we fully explore this lake that we have found.

We can walk along the shoreline of the lake We can explore by boat. We can swim around along the surface, maybe even shallow dive off a platform. We can enjoy our time with others as we do these things. We can even just stop and sunbathe. That may be great at first and it may be great at different times when we need a break.

We should not be satisified with swimming around the surface, though. We need to swim deeper. We need to swim down past the depths that others swim. We need to go down by ourselves into the soundless areas below, finding the secrets that others cannot find. In these places, looking up at the surface, it's just between us and God. He'll show us what we're looking for.

And once we have found these secrets, these treasures, we can swim up and bring them back to the surface. We can bring the pearls that God has shown to us and give them to others. For me in particular, this means deepening in worship and bringing back songs that everyone can share. (Once in a while, there may be a pearl of great value that I won't want to share with anyone.)

Don't swim further, swim deeper.