As part of my job this summer, I am required with my fellow workers to lifeguard at our pool. Sometimes they are young, elementary school kids and other times there are older, high school kids, and sometimes it is the parents that are watching their young elementary school or high school kids, but it seems that this is one of those things that just always happens. Others take a little safer route: they somewhat power walk around the pool. Some kids, though, grow out of this habit and safely walk around the outside of the pool.
There are "crazy amounts of relevance" -- thanks EW -- in this illustration.
You have the "runners." These people are careless; they act like they listen to your instruction but then carry on what they want to do. You can get on them over and over again and they may listen for a little while, but they ultimately do not make that move to a slower pace. They rely more on themselves to get things done than on God.
Next you have your "trotters." These are those who understand that being at their own pace can hurt them, so they try to find out how close they can come before they start to fall. God is there a little more so now, but they are still doing their own thing.
Finally you have your "walkers." These are those who fully understand the rules and they abide; they trust that the rules are there for a reason. These are those who make decisions based on what God has to offer them in the long run.
My point: all of us are one of these three swimmers in our lives. There are rules in our lives that we just do not want to follow; there are those rules which we lean a little more towards God, but still follow our pace; and there are those rules in which we know and stick to because we know God has our best in mind.
Knowing that God is my "lifeguard," I know that he has the best for me: he doesn't want me to fall and scrape my knees and hands and he doesn't want me to fall underwater. I know that God will always be there to heal my wounds and save me when I'm drowning.
What are some of those rules in which you feel God calling you to walk?
Trying to walk,
chase
