Learning to Swim

When I was a young boy of about six, my mom made me take swimming lessons. I hated going because the water was freezing cold and I was the only boy in the class. I had to learn how to dog paddle to pass this class and I just wasn’t very good.

Well, it came about that one Sunday, probably in mid-July, there was a church picnic at the pond behind my grandparent’s house and I figured that if I could convince my mom that I knew how to dog paddle, she wouldn’t make me go back to that freezing cold pool with all those icky girls. So I walked out into the pond where it was about three feet deep, leaned forward and started doing the dog paddle.

From my mom’s perspective on the shore it looked like I was swimming along just fine, but under the murky water, I was walking on the bottom of the pond. And on the shore, I saw people telling my mother, “He’s really doing well!” and “Look what a good little swimmer he is.” I was sure I had them all fooled.

But there was a boy at that picnic, bigger than me, and somehow he knew I was faking it. When I got out of the water, he picked me up, carried me out to the end of the dock and threw me into about eight feet of water. As I was sailing through the air, a thought crossed my mind, “I am going to die.” Well, I popped up to the surface and looked to see who was coming to save me. Not a soul. And why should they come after me? Everyone had seen what a good little swimmer I was. Finally, I started doing what I had learned – kicking my legs and paddling like crazy with my hands.

Amazingly, I stayed pretty close to the surface and started moving toward the shore. And that boy who threw me in just stood on the dock laughing. His name was Mark, I’ll never forget that, and he was laughing at me but I wasn’t angry with him at all. Because on that day in mid-July, Mark taught me how to swim.

You see, I didn’t trust the water to hold me up; I trusted my own feet on the solid bottom of the pond. And I fear that there are many who are doing the same thing in their Christian life today. You look just like the real swimming Christians, but you’re just going through the motions on the surface, trusting your own footing and distrusting God to keep you afloat.

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who have entered through the narrow gate who are on their way along the narrow path to heaven; and those who are on the wide way to destruction. They both look like they’re doing the same things to most observers, but one is faking it

If you haven’t entered through the narrow gate and if you find yourself on the wide way, I hope I’ve thrown you in the deep part of the pond with this story. I hope that the thought crossed your mind, “I am going to die,” Because you are.

The Holy Spirit was sent to us to convict us of sin now, so we will know which path we are on. If you feel convicted right now in some way, then the Spirit of God is working in you. Rejoice! This is good news! Hebrews 12:6  says, “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and chastises every child he accepts.”

On the other hand, if you feel no conviction, then you are either firmly on the narrow path with your eyes wide open, or firmly on the wide way with your eyes tightly shut. There could be a narrow door right in front of you, but you would never see it.

Open your eyes, kick off of the bottom, trust that God will not let you sink. Confess your sins and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. Walk in His way; Trust and Obey.