Have you ever been told to do something that you didn’t think you could do?
When I was little boy, age five or six, I was with my parents at a pool party. I couldn’t yet swim, so when I jumped into the pool, I always jumped close to edge so I could reach out quickly, grab the side and pull myself back to safety.
My parents told me to jump into middle of the pool and they would catch me. I didn’t believe them, so I didn’t listen. I jumped again, only this time too close to the side. My chin hit the concrete edge and busted wide open. To add insult to injury, my mom spanked me before taking me to the hospital where I received seven stitches.
What led to my injuries? Two doubts. First, I doubted in my ability to swim. Second, I doubted in my parent’s ability to catch me and take me to safety.
When you commit yourself to Jesus, He assures you that you can trust Him with your soul. It’s the great promise of John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
But the Bible makes an important distinction. Those who believe must also obey Him. It is the belief that produces the obedience. If I trust Jesus, I’ll do what He commands. For instance, because I believe, I obey His command to confess Him before witnesses. Because I believe I obey His command to be baptized. But Jesus doesn’t save us just to save us.
Ephesians 2:8-10 — For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (emphasis mine)
Paul wants us to understand that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We can only be saved by trusting in what Jesus did on the cross. His work and His efforts save us, nothing else. But then Paul quickly adds that Jesus didn’t save us so that we could live as we choose, but He saved us for good works.
In other words, Jesus invites us to the pool party. If we accept His invitation and come, He tells us to jump in the deep end. Is it scary? Of course, it is! We don’t yet know how to swim! But He’s there. He’s with us. He teaches and guides us, patiently and slowly.
As we progress, He calls us to different challenges. He tells us to go to the community pool and teach others just like He taught us. He may call us to jump into pools in different states or even different countries. He never leaves or forsakes us.
He teaches us slowly so that our doubts are little by little taken away. As our doubts decrease, our faith increases. One day we wake up and don’t even recognize ourselves anymore. This transformation begins at salvation and continues until we draw our last breath.
He’s calling you to jump. What will you do?
Much love,
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
