Day 33 – Sunday
Wading Deeper
Ezekiel 47 (New Living Translation)1 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2 The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.
3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.
6 He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. 7 When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. 8 Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. 9 There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows.
Today I had the opportunity to baptize five young people into the family of God. What a glorious thing, to see new believers enter the waters of baptism, proclaiming their faith and being welcomed into the family of God! I hope you’ll join me in praying for Brian, Riley, Blake, Caroline, and John Travis.
One of the funny things that happened today was probably unknown to most people who came to the baptism. The service was held at a sister church, because we don’t have a baptismal pool, and the river is too cold. In retrospect, I’m not sure that the river would have been any colder in March than the water we went into today. The standard procedure is to fill up the baptistery twenty-four hours in advance, and then use an electric heater to bring the water up to a comfortable temperature. Today, however, the water was frigid, because (1) they forgot to fill it until the last minute, and (2) even if they had remembered and filled it up a day ago, the heater at the church is broken. So the water was ground-water cold. On second thought, maybe that wasn’t very funny—just ask the kids who got baptized!
Also, since the pool was filled at the last minute, there actually wasn’t time to finish filling it all the way. So the water only went up to my thighs. Plenty deep for a baptism—as long as you’re a kid, which they all were.
It reminded me of the Ezekiel 47 passage, where the prophet is told to wade out into the water that at first comes up to his ankles, then to his knees, then to his waist, and finally was deep enough to swim in. This is an illustration of the spiritual life. When we begin, it’s like wading up to our ankles. God lets us splash around a bit, but we really don’t go very deep. Then, once we’ve “gotten our feet wet,” He leads us into the deeper things of God. We move progressively into God’s truth, until finally “deep calls to deep (Psalm 42:7).
Where are you in your spiritual journey? Ankle deep? Knee deep? Waist deep? Are you a swimmer? I pray for you the same thing that I pray for those who entered the water today—that God will lead you progressively into His grace and truth. I pray that you’ll be brave enough to wade out a little bit deeper every day, until there’s nothing to hold you but the Spirit of God Himself. Then you’ll enjoy swimming in the fresh-water sea of His love.
Wading Deeper
Ezekiel 47 (New Living Translation)1 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2 The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.
3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.
6 He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. 7 When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. 8 Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea. The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. 9 There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows.
Today I had the opportunity to baptize five young people into the family of God. What a glorious thing, to see new believers enter the waters of baptism, proclaiming their faith and being welcomed into the family of God! I hope you’ll join me in praying for Brian, Riley, Blake, Caroline, and John Travis.
One of the funny things that happened today was probably unknown to most people who came to the baptism. The service was held at a sister church, because we don’t have a baptismal pool, and the river is too cold. In retrospect, I’m not sure that the river would have been any colder in March than the water we went into today. The standard procedure is to fill up the baptistery twenty-four hours in advance, and then use an electric heater to bring the water up to a comfortable temperature. Today, however, the water was frigid, because (1) they forgot to fill it until the last minute, and (2) even if they had remembered and filled it up a day ago, the heater at the church is broken. So the water was ground-water cold. On second thought, maybe that wasn’t very funny—just ask the kids who got baptized!
Also, since the pool was filled at the last minute, there actually wasn’t time to finish filling it all the way. So the water only went up to my thighs. Plenty deep for a baptism—as long as you’re a kid, which they all were.
It reminded me of the Ezekiel 47 passage, where the prophet is told to wade out into the water that at first comes up to his ankles, then to his knees, then to his waist, and finally was deep enough to swim in. This is an illustration of the spiritual life. When we begin, it’s like wading up to our ankles. God lets us splash around a bit, but we really don’t go very deep. Then, once we’ve “gotten our feet wet,” He leads us into the deeper things of God. We move progressively into God’s truth, until finally “deep calls to deep (Psalm 42:7).
Where are you in your spiritual journey? Ankle deep? Knee deep? Waist deep? Are you a swimmer? I pray for you the same thing that I pray for those who entered the water today—that God will lead you progressively into His grace and truth. I pray that you’ll be brave enough to wade out a little bit deeper every day, until there’s nothing to hold you but the Spirit of God Himself. Then you’ll enjoy swimming in the fresh-water sea of His love.
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