I'm diving in

I remember the first time I decided to jump off a diving board. I’m a bit of a risk taker, but I have respect for things that I’m not sure I can conquer. I can’t even count how many times I walked out, had butterflies in my stomach and couldn’t do it. Finally after a ton of pressure from friends who were there with me, I decided to jump. I jumped as close as I could to the edge and got the heck out of there.

We all can go out on a diving board and look at the water. Sooner or later you just have to jump. Or someone from the back pushes you. Christ isn’t a pusher, he waits for you to jump. F you never jump, it’s only up to you what you will miss.

Today we are going to look at diving in and the purpose behind it. Noah received a call from God to build an ark. It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t rational and everyone laughed at him because of it. In spite of this, he dove in and built an ark. Ask yourself how things would be if he hadn’t been obedient. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his child after all the promises he had been given by God. Abraham didn’t avoid the circumstance, instead he dove in.

Joseph, knowing his brothers would one day bow down to him and after the accusation Potiphar’s wife asking for an affair refused a temporary blessing. He dove in. Moses answered a call from a burning bush to deliver a nation. He dove in. David this puny little kid took on a fight with Goliath which was just the beginning of his call and the refining before he inherited the house of Saul, an entire kingdom. He dove in. Daniel ended up in the Lion’s Den under King Nebuchadnezzar’s rule to bow. Esther risked her very life to go before the king to preserve a nation. Joseph believing Mary and the Angel of the Lord to raise the son of God. All of these are examples of diving in and taking the call your God given purpose and working it until it is complete.

In John 13, Jesus began to wash his disciples feet. This freaked Peter out a bit. Peter couldn’t imagine Jesus, the son of God doing such a lowly act. Further Peter didn’t feel worthy enough to allow Jesus to do this to him. So Peter questioned Jesus. Jesus told him it was a must in order to be indoctrinated into his specific purpose. I believe Peter’s response was beyond profound. Peter replied to Jesus telling him not to just wash his feet but his entire body. In essence Peter wanted to be completely immersed into Christ’s cleansing in order to fulfill his purpose. Peter had the right heart in the end. He wanted to do whatever it took to be part of God’s purpose.  
           
Luke 21 talks about being betrayed by the ones closest to you and the ones you love for pursuing your God given purpose. Regardless there is a promise that you will be saved and God is paying attention to every detail including how many hairs are on your head. You have to dive in to receive the reward. If you never take the plunge you never move forward.

Deuteronomy 28:13 (MSG) “The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.” Galatians 6:9 (NIV) “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG) “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

​Now dive in. Dive in and say to yourself, I’m diving in!