Put out into deep water. (Luke 5:4) The Lord did not say how deep. The depth of the water into which we sail depends upon how completely we have cut our ties to the shore, the greatness of our need, and our anxieties about the future. Yet the fish were to be found in the deep, not the shallow, water. It is the same with us —our needs are to be met in the deep things of God. We are to sail into the deep of God’s Word, which the Holy Spirit will open to us with profound yet crystal-clear meaning. And the words we knew in the past will have an ocean of new meaning, which will render their original message very shallow. “Put out into [the] deep” of the atonement. We must continue until the Spirit brings such understanding of Christ’s precious blood that it becomes an omnipotent balm, and food and medicine for our soul and body. “Put out into [the] deep” of the Father’s will. We must endure until we fully comprehend its infinite detail and goodness and its far-reaching provision and care for us. “Put out into [the] deep” of the Holy Spirit. We must never stop until He becomes to us a warm, shining, radiant, and fathomless sea, one in which we soak, basking and breathing and ultimately losing ourselves and our sorrows in the calmness and peace of His everlasting presence. We must keep on until the Spirit becomes a clear and glorious answer to our prayer; our most careful and tender guide; the most thoughtful anticipator of our needs; and the most skilled and supernatural sculptor of our circumstances. “Put out into [the] deep” of God’s purposes and His coming kingdom. We must carry on until the Lord’s coming and His millennial reign are before us, where we see eternity unfolding beyond the glorious gates, until our imagination is blinded by the brilliant light, and our heart flutters with an inexpressible anticipation of the joy of seeing Jesus and “the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18) [Streams]
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 10:20:02 +0000