Summer is drawing to a close. Swimming and water skiing will soon give way
to football and falling leaves. As a kid
this time of year always brought a flurry of last minute skiing. We had to get in all we could before the
water turned cold and the boat went away for the winter. Early mornings and late afternoons found us
at a nearby slalom course. The yellow buoys
were lined up on both sides and we felt the rush of adrenalin as the boat aimed
for the lane that would put the skier on the course. There was always the dare from your best
friend to use a shorter rope and to go through the buoys just a little
faster. No turning back. The boat lined up, you took a deep breath and
with the pleasure of rushing wind and spray in your face, you moved out to the
right. Going around the first buoy was
easy but getting across the wake and around the second was tougher. The falls generally came as I aimed for the 4th
or 5th.
But the falling never brought
anguish or frustration. Our reaction was
laughter and joking and that good feeling that comes when you know you
succeeded a little more than last time.
Growth. Strength. Good friends and laughter. The course was risky but it was so very good!
You see, we knew that in skiing,
falling wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Only
those that fall succeed. You aim for the
buoy. You are stretched out at the end
of the rope, almost parallel to the water, until your elbow skims the surface…
and then you fall! It’s okay because you
know you just got a little stronger – a little better – a little closer to the goal. The point is that only those that fall succeed b/c only those that fall risk leaving the
comfort zone of mediocrity to become the strongest skier they can be. If we fail to risk, we have fallen already
and have no opportunity for growth at all.
With Christ, it isn’t falling that
ultimately brings us closer but it is
being broken. We can surround
ourselves in layers of cultural and legalistic self righteous comfort and never
draw close to God…or we can run to him and bow before him! Running to God can seem risky. God is big.
God is holy. But God invites us
to run to him and abide there. He takes
us and makes us and breaks us where we need to be broken. He peels the layers of insulation from our
hearts like a farmer peeling the shucks back from an ear of corn. He sands off the rough spots until he has
what he wants. That sanding and shucking
and breaking hurts but the result is that we are closer to the Father. Like the skier that swallows a gallon of
water but knows that he is stronger, so the person who risks everything by
drawing near to God is also stronger.
Do you want to grow stronger in
your faith? Draw near to God. It’s risky but it’s good.
Drawing near with you,
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