The High Dive of Faith

There's a new song out called "How He Loves Us" by Kim Walker. In the song there is a line that says, "if grace is an ocean, we're all sinking". I really like that. If grace is an ocean, I definitely want to be on my way down, down to the deep.I was at a retreat this weekend put on by Cloud Walk and the speaker was a man named Jack Taylor. In my opinion he is one of the leading father figures of the modern faith. He has experienced so much of life at 76 years old - he's unfortunately lost two wives to cancer, he's had 4 heart surgeries, he's led countless people to God, has preached hundreds of sermons, has written over a dozen books, he's seen tons of miracles and has lived a life of great faith. He's spent time with giants of our faith like Corrie ten Boom, Bertha Smith (the famous missionary to China) and Peter Lord. He spoke to us on The Kingdom of God for three sessions. My faith took a deep dive this past weekend.After the retreat during my time with God, I felt like he was telling me to be concerned with depth....depth in my relationship with God, depth in my love and service for others, etc. Depth as opposed to breadth. The word that kept rattling around in my head was "fathom". A fathom is a unit of measure of the depth of water (about 6 feet).I think one way to insure we go "deeper" in our faith, in our love for others and in our love for God is to stand on the shoulders of spiritual giants. For me Jack Taylor is a giant of the modern faith. If I stand on his shoulders and jump off into the ocean of grace, I will go deeper than if I jump into the water from the shore. I believe the taller the person of faith I hang out with, the deeper I go.To me the ultimate purpose of going "deep" is not to be wise, to say clever spiritual things, to be smart or to know a bunch of scripture....it's to have a closer relationship with God and as a result better serve and love those around me. So....

• How deep do you want to go in your relationship with God; how deep do you want to sink in the ocean of grace?
• Do you have a priest, a small group leader, a friend, a favorite writer who can be that person for you?
• Do you make quality time for them in your busy week?

If you don't have people in your life that are taller than you, then your leaps into the ocean of grace will result in small splashes just along the surface. Jump off the high dive, jump off a mountain side, leap to the ocean below with vigor...go deep and see what God does.