Serving God in knee-deep water means that we must work a little harder, study a little more, do a little more than other people and even draw attention to the fact that we are more committed to doing a job that needs to be done.
Just as knee-deep water is a little harder to walk in and hides a lot of things that may cause you to stumble, so does serving the Lord. God will begin the process of strengthening you and building your faith in Him.
But, this is just a knee-deep commitment.
God is saying, Step on out a little further. Let me draw you closer to me.
Ezekiel is carried out into the water until it became waist deep.
Now the going gets tougher. The demands upon your time, energy and commitment now really cuts into your already busy schedule.
Your not just teaching a class or working around the church now. God has now called you into training for leadership within His church. Now you have to read more, study more, pray harder and be concerned for a part of God’s work that He has entrusted you with.
Rest assured that as you try to wade out in water up to your waist that you are going to face some opposition. As the Holy Spirit leads you into a deeper walk with the Lord, there will be obstacles in your path. There will be those who will not commit themselves and will tell you that you are foolish for being so radical for the things of God. There will be those who won’t agree with your conviction or your methods. There will probably be those who will even try to convince you that you can’t do what you feel God is telling you to do.
There will always be those who only wade out ankle deep or who don’t even step into the water at all. These are usually the ones who try to discourage those who will step out further for God.
Finally, Ezekiel was carried out into water that was too deep for him to touch bottom and he had to swim. When you get committed to God enough that even the plans that you make are scary, that’s when you are getting into this deepest walk with the Lord. That’s the place where you must learn to depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit more than ever because you know you can’t do what God has called you do on your own.
When you are this deep, you have gone beyond your own ability.
Ezekiel had gone so far from the shore that he could no longer walk back. Wherever the river flowed, that was where Ezekiel was going. The current was so strong and the volume of water was so great that Ezekiel was in over his head. Still God was carrying him and there was no danger of the Prophet drowning. God was still in control of the water and of the life of the prophet.
Most Christians will never experience the joy, fulfillment, trust and love for God that comes with this kind of commitment because they love the safety of the shore too much.
They refuse to leave their comfort zone. They refuse to stretch and grow beyond what they can see.
Their faith is never exercised to the point that they have complete peace no matter what the world throws at them.
If someone is to reach the deep relationship and commitment to the Lord that this represents he has moved beyond himself and has placed himself under the hand of God in complete obedience and trust.
This is what true spiritual maturity is all about!
It is about coming to the end of ourselves and realizing just how big God really is, and that there is no way that we could ever do it on our own.
When Ezekiel got in this deep his will was surrendered to the will of the river. He was going to go where the river took him.
God wants us to loose sight of ourselves, our goals, our ambitions, our dreams and He wants us to be totally, 100% surrendered to Him and His will for our lives.
Just as knee-deep water is a little harder to walk in and hides a lot of things that may cause you to stumble, so does serving the Lord. God will begin the process of strengthening you and building your faith in Him.
But, this is just a knee-deep commitment.
God is saying, Step on out a little further. Let me draw you closer to me.
Ezekiel is carried out into the water until it became waist deep.
Now the going gets tougher. The demands upon your time, energy and commitment now really cuts into your already busy schedule.
Your not just teaching a class or working around the church now. God has now called you into training for leadership within His church. Now you have to read more, study more, pray harder and be concerned for a part of God’s work that He has entrusted you with.
Rest assured that as you try to wade out in water up to your waist that you are going to face some opposition. As the Holy Spirit leads you into a deeper walk with the Lord, there will be obstacles in your path. There will be those who will not commit themselves and will tell you that you are foolish for being so radical for the things of God. There will be those who won’t agree with your conviction or your methods. There will probably be those who will even try to convince you that you can’t do what you feel God is telling you to do.
There will always be those who only wade out ankle deep or who don’t even step into the water at all. These are usually the ones who try to discourage those who will step out further for God.
Finally, Ezekiel was carried out into water that was too deep for him to touch bottom and he had to swim. When you get committed to God enough that even the plans that you make are scary, that’s when you are getting into this deepest walk with the Lord. That’s the place where you must learn to depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit more than ever because you know you can’t do what God has called you do on your own.
When you are this deep, you have gone beyond your own ability.
Ezekiel had gone so far from the shore that he could no longer walk back. Wherever the river flowed, that was where Ezekiel was going. The current was so strong and the volume of water was so great that Ezekiel was in over his head. Still God was carrying him and there was no danger of the Prophet drowning. God was still in control of the water and of the life of the prophet.
Most Christians will never experience the joy, fulfillment, trust and love for God that comes with this kind of commitment because they love the safety of the shore too much.
They refuse to leave their comfort zone. They refuse to stretch and grow beyond what they can see.
Their faith is never exercised to the point that they have complete peace no matter what the world throws at them.
If someone is to reach the deep relationship and commitment to the Lord that this represents he has moved beyond himself and has placed himself under the hand of God in complete obedience and trust.
This is what true spiritual maturity is all about!
It is about coming to the end of ourselves and realizing just how big God really is, and that there is no way that we could ever do it on our own.
When Ezekiel got in this deep his will was surrendered to the will of the river. He was going to go where the river took him.
God wants us to loose sight of ourselves, our goals, our ambitions, our dreams and He wants us to be totally, 100% surrendered to Him and His will for our lives.
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