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Stick in the Mud

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John 5:19 Now it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus mixed the mud and opened the man’s eyes.

You have heard the idiomatic saying, “don’t be a stick in the mud,” which refers to someone who is considered boring, due to unpopular or outdated beliefs. Oswald Chambers writes: “One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own temperament, (personality). We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first ting we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention what soever to our natural desires. We have to idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself.”

Recently we were praying at church and my wife observed that when the water is shallow it is easily muddied. Thus we began praying that God would raise the depth of the River of the Spirit in our Church, and in our people. In shallow water it is hard to float, and hard to enjoy. Attempts at getting beneath the surface are impossible being that you are already at the surface. Even if you could get beneath the surface, the water would be so muddy you couldn’t see a thing.

Jesus commanded us to “Come follow Me!” (Luke 18:22) He did not give us the choice to remain stuck fast in the mud of shallowness. Besides those who remain stuck fast, unwilling to change their beliefs, cannot see that their natural desires actually prevent them from seeing where Jesus is going. Remaining stuck in the mud, of spiritual shallowness, only gives you the illusion that you are following Jesus. But anyone who has waded from the shore of natural temperament and plunged beneath the surface will see that Jesus mixes up the mud of self-centeredness to free us from the crooked sticks that we are. In the depths of the Waters of His Spirit we are free to dive deep beyond the shallowness of surface living and see where, and Who Jesus is. Lastly, it’s nearly impossible for a stick to dive deep beneath the waters – for it will always have a tendency to float. But combine the weight of the Spirit upon it and the stick transforms into a vessel for the wonder and Glory of its Creator.

Launch Out Into the Deep

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Luke 5:4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

Yesterday’s message challenged us to launch out into the deep of the unknown but how many will let loose of the dock and leave the harbor of comfort, and security? This morning I thought it was appropriate that the devotional by Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost For His Highest” would have the following: Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment. When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. …It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

My experience has revealed that most refuse to let go of the shelter of the dock to launch out into the deep things of the Spirit. Some will fool themselves into believing that they have already arrived, while others will continue waiting for the next high tide. Excuses will be made for their disobedience. Rationalizations will propose that when the conditions are right, and favorable – they will launch out. Don’t you believe it. You and I are not the kind of person to ever leave the safety and comfort of the dock, while the devil is quite happy to watch you waste away tied to your pride and fear. Don’t be mistaken, this invitation is Divine and the time is now. Will you launch out into the deep at the Master’s command, or will you continue sleeping safely in the harbor?