I was drowning. I grasped my throat. This didn’t help me breathe. I waved my arms desperately, but the surface of the water was floating higher above me. I was sinking.

I didn’t know how to swim. No one had taught me how.

I was thrown into the deep end of Christianity.

I started like most people, dipping my toes in the waters of the ocean on a sunny warm day. I splashed with my feet, enjoying the cool drops of water and the fun with the other kids.

On a brave day, I waded into the ocean up to my knees. Now I was a real Christian, I knew. I was baptized there. I stayed in the knee-deep water with everyone else I knew for decades. I was happy.

And then God pushed me headfirst into the deep end of the pool. There were four different workshop choices at the conference and I knew that God was asking me to attend the “Holy Spirit” stream. Whaaattt? That grated against my expectations of who I was. I was a RESPECTABLE Christian, the one who attend the ACADEMIC stream at the workshop.

I obeyed and well – Holy Spirit stuff happened to me. Perhaps that is for another blog post. When I know you better. A LOT better. I came out of that workshop grumpy and glared at my friend. He laughed, seeing my face, as he knew I didn’t even want to be there. I was NOT one of THOSE types of weird Christians. Well, maybe now I was. I was not happy. What was that even FOR or ABOUT, God?

I saw the leader of the workshop later. “God was behind that experience,” He reminded me, gently.

The box that I had put God in had shattered.

And who am I now, I wondered?

In retrospect, after God threw me into the deep end of the pool, He was treading water right next to me. I reached for Him and He caught me. “Whoa – what was that experience at the workshop even about?” I asked.

I am not who you think I am, He began.

Will you walk with me on a journey, friend, to discover who I REALLY am, and also who you REALLY are?

And so our journey began.

If you also are thirsty for more, if you are scratching your throat because it is dry and parched, and no water is coming to quench your thirst, then read on, and perhaps you will find signs pointing you to the right road for your journey, the one that leads you further and further into the heart of Jesus.

Because once you learn to swim, you’ll find that the deep waters aren’t as scary as they look. In fact, no other way of living could be half as exhilarating.

Come, friend. The ocean is beckoning.

Are you ready to walk into deeper waters with me? I’ve got your hand. If we lay aside the stuff that we can’t swim with – our backpacks, boots, and fear – we will find the adventure of a lifetime.

He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through. The Message

God help us to take hold of your hand, and to walk deeper with You, from ankle deep, to knee-deep to waist deep to over our head of the knowledge of who You really are, and of who You made us to be. Pause for a moment and reflect, what fears would you need to lay aside to walk deeper into the things of God?