Note: This article was first published in the May 2021 edition of the print newsletter of Owensville First Christian Church.
I suspect that if COVID-19 continues to decline and the number of people being vaccinated increases, many public and private pools will open by Memorial Day Weekend. Many of us who grew up in Gibson County have fond memories of summer days spent swimming at the Princeton and/or Mt. Carmel public pools with relatives and friends. I particularly remember the annual 4-H Field Day led by Mr. Howard Lowry. In the morning the Owensville 4-H Club carpooled from farm to farm to see the livestock that various club members would be showing at the Gibson County Fair. It was a fun and interesting outing, but honestly, I was most interested in the afternoon activities: the trip to Princeton’s Lafayette Park for a picnic lunch followed an afternoon of swimming at the public pool just across the street. After buying my ticket and the obligatory cold shower, it was time to jump into the pool.
Those first few years I was confined to the shallow end. I was comfortable enough in the water and even enjoyed swimming under the surface as far as possible before coming up for a gasp of air. But I wasn’t ready to swim in the deep end. That required practice and unofficial lessons, mostly performed at my Aunt Carol Lockwood’s pond. I looked forward to the day that I could go out to the deep end of the pool and even dive from the diving board. The day finally came when I swam with “the big kids.” I still spent a bit of time on the shallow side of the dividing rope, but swimming on the deep side was richer.
Few Christians desire to go deep in our relationship with Christ, at least it seems that way in the Lord’s church in America. We are content to splash in the shallow end of kingdom living, happy with getting wet and trusting in ourselves to put our feet down onto the cement floor if we feel like we’re starting to “go” or stay “under” a bit too long. Regularly practicing spiritual disciplines such as daily (or almost daily) reading (or listening to), meditating on, and studying Scripture, prayer and fasting, corporate and private worship, silence and solitude, and service to others in Christ’s name, not to mention reading or listening to solid books written by mature saints who have swam in deeper, darker, and more dangerous waters than us seems too demanding, inconvenient, or unnecessary. We fail to realize that the spiritual disciplines are not ends in themselves; they are “tools” that, when accompanied by the Holy Spirit, bring us into the deeper waters of Christ Himself!
Perhaps we’re unnecessarily afraid of the what the psalmist penned in Psalm 42:7: Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me (ESV).
We forget about or fail to read and take to heart the next verse:
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life (Psalm 42:8 ESV).
This is where we can learn from the Apostle Peter’s experience when he and the other disciples saw Jesus walking on water. If we will keep our eyes on Christ, going deep with Him casts away fear and much floundering (Matthew 14:25-33).
May the peace of Christ be with you all,
Bart Newton
Preaching Minister