I used to be a lifeguard on the ocean. No, that was not me on Bay Watch - I get that all the time. While in training, one thing we drilled was what to do in the case of a panicked swimmer. Panicked swimmers can be incredibly dangerous… because they are often the strong-willed ones. They may be out of their depth, but they’ve got enough fight to not let you save them. It's more like they want to save themselves by using you as a flotation device. The best thing to do in that case is to actually just sink under the water with them for a moment and then get some distance until they’ve worn themselves out a bit.
Have you ever seen God’s mercy show-up like that in your life?
When you are trying to live apart from Him and do your own thing, what does God do to bring you back? He will often simply let you get tired and experience failure, to “suck in some water" in order to help you understand how weak you truly are, and to you shake loose from the illusion that you can manage without Him at the center of it all.
Sometimes we get to thinking all we need is for God to be our coach or our adviser, that He just needs to give us a few suggestions and a bit of help from time to time. But what we need is rescue!
Some people have told me stories from their life, how they were living like that. And then their marriage failed… their relationships with their kids fell apart… they got caught up in something they would have never thought in a million years a “good” person would do. And then they came to see those things weren’t the worst of it but were just the tip of the iceberg.
Underneath, we are not “good” people. We are all bent away from God. We’ve not just made “mistakes,” we've sinned. We've said and done things that hurt other people and brought evil into the world. We’ve done the kind of things that God says don’t just bring death… but deserve death.
When you see that, you realize… I’m not swimming, I’m drowning. And realize you don’t just need Jesus to give you marriage advice, or parenting advice, or business advice for an easier more successful life… you need rescue! You need Him to save you from yourself, to save you from death.
The Gospel is for the sick, it’s for the weak, it’s for sinners… and here is the choice before you: You can either drown thinking you’re the kind of person who doesn't need saving. Or you can realize, "I am not strong… I am stubborn toward God, and I need rescue!"
Romans 10:13 says, “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That’s the Good News - for everyone. It does not matter who you are, if you need saving, call on the savior - His name is Jesus!
Have you ever seen God’s mercy show-up like that in your life?
When you are trying to live apart from Him and do your own thing, what does God do to bring you back? He will often simply let you get tired and experience failure, to “suck in some water" in order to help you understand how weak you truly are, and to you shake loose from the illusion that you can manage without Him at the center of it all.
Sometimes we get to thinking all we need is for God to be our coach or our adviser, that He just needs to give us a few suggestions and a bit of help from time to time. But what we need is rescue!
Some people have told me stories from their life, how they were living like that. And then their marriage failed… their relationships with their kids fell apart… they got caught up in something they would have never thought in a million years a “good” person would do. And then they came to see those things weren’t the worst of it but were just the tip of the iceberg.
Underneath, we are not “good” people. We are all bent away from God. We’ve not just made “mistakes,” we've sinned. We've said and done things that hurt other people and brought evil into the world. We’ve done the kind of things that God says don’t just bring death… but deserve death.
When you see that, you realize… I’m not swimming, I’m drowning. And realize you don’t just need Jesus to give you marriage advice, or parenting advice, or business advice for an easier more successful life… you need rescue! You need Him to save you from yourself, to save you from death.
The Gospel is for the sick, it’s for the weak, it’s for sinners… and here is the choice before you: You can either drown thinking you’re the kind of person who doesn't need saving. Or you can realize, "I am not strong… I am stubborn toward God, and I need rescue!"
Romans 10:13 says, “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That’s the Good News - for everyone. It does not matter who you are, if you need saving, call on the savior - His name is Jesus!
by Jared Major
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