During July this summer Cherie and I spent 2 1/2 weeks visiting our friends, Adam and Amanda and their six kids, at their home in Michigan. Just a few months earlier they had an in-ground pool installed in their back yard, so we enjoyed the 4th of July, one of the kids’ birthdays, and several hot sunny days around the pool with our friends.

One day I was watching as Cherie entered the pool at the shallow end. As she descended the steps into the water, I could read the discomfort on her face as the cold water hit her warm skin. She’d step, then wait for her body to adjust to the water temperature, then step again. This reminded me of Ezekiel 47:3-6, where Ezekiel had a vision.

Ezekiel 47:3-6:

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He meausred off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in – a river that no one could cross. He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

Cherie’s steps into the pool are like the four elevations of water Ezekiel was taken through. Water in the scriptures represents the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls each and every one of us to wade into the water, into an increasingly deeper relationship with Him. How deep we go depends on us.

The deeper we allow our relationship with God to get, the more freedom is ours. After all, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). On a hot summer’s day, we come to the water hot, sticky, sweaty, maybe even smelly and dirty from working outside. Similarly, when we begin a relationship with Jesus, we often come looking for relief – relief from the burdens of life, our own internal struggles, our sin – anything that weighs us down. If we only dip our toes into a relationship with Him, we may initially feel better but then wonder why we still feel like we’re covered in muck.

In the deeper waters of our relationship with Jesus our dirt, grime and sweat is naturally be washed off us. We step in and experience His love, cleansing our hearts. We take more steps and learn and believe His truths, renewing our minds. We accept that He has paid the price and has fully forgiven us, washing away the guilt of our sin. With each step, we gradually adjust to the temperature of the water, becoming more comfortable with the ways of God in our life and allowing us to move deeper. Step by step we trust Him more and find more and more freedom.

In the deep end with God, we must surrender control. That’s why so many people never get to the deep end of the pool. If we are to go into the deep end and remain, we have to allow God to be fully in charge of our lives – our decisions, our bodies, our time, etc. But in our surrender, there is true freedom. God is in charge of protecting us, providing for us, loving us even when we don’t love Him back, comforting us, leading us into everything good for us. (Psalm 42:7-8) In this way, He is like the lifejacket or inner tube the keeps us afloat so we never have to be concerned about going under. As Jesus reminds us, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). Jesus is leading us into the deep waters so we can live the full life of abundance He came to give us (John 10:10).

Later in Ezekiel 47, we read that the water shown to Ezekiel flowed into the Dead Sea, which is known for having such a high salt content that nothing could live in it. However, the extremely salty waters of the Dead Sea didn’t contaminate the fresh water. Instead, the water flowing into the Dead Sea made the Dead Sea fresh, allowing life to spring forth. This is actually coming to pass today. The Dead Sea is being healed of its intense salt waters with fresh water. “Healing water” is entering the Dead Sea and bringing forth life. Living creatures are now being found in the Dead Sea. So it is with us. When we feel dead and have no hope, Jesus takes that is dead and gives us new life.

I urge you all, don’t step into the shallow end to be a spectator to what God is doing around you. Get wet, go deep, and receive something new.

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It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

~ Galatians 5:1

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me –

a prayer to the God of my life.

~ Psalm 42:7-8

My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

~ John 10:27

The thief does not come expect to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

~ John 10:10