Into the Deep

Under a calm and dim condition, on the surface you cannot tell the difference between a 10-meter deep water and a 10,000-meter deep water. This thousand-time difference in depth would eventually show up. The Proverb says, The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. (Prov. 20:5 ESV) The word purpose here, can also be translated as wisdom. The purpose and wisdom of life come from the depth of our hearts. Our hearts like waters, are evaluated by its depth. This is our calling from Jesus, that we put out our hearts into the deep. (Lk. 5:4)

Born into sin, we by nature are a pool of shallow water, and are found in want of either purpose or wisdom. Jesus came and demonstrated His heart of unfathomable depth. Yet People believe Him not. They mock His teaching for His love is too deep for them to understand. When He said, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matt. 5:39 ESV) How many people believe there is wisdom in these words? They come from a heart of love as deep as ocean. Faith is the necessary channel connecting His heart and ours. Once connected, there will be living water flowing into and overflowing out of our hearts. As Jesus promised, Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (Jn. 7:38 ESV)

Earth quake can cause seismic sea wave, which is often less then one meter in amplitude with a long wavelength of hundreds of kilometers. If you sail across these waves, you must travel across hundreds of kilometers to experience one cycle of crest to trough. You would not be able to feel the wave motion at all. However, according to Green’s law in fluid dynamics, when this seismic sea wave propagates into shallow water, it will evolve into monstrous tsunami waves of hundreds of meters tall and tens of kilometers apart. It can wipe out a port city and bring catastrophe to all who live at shallow bay areas. All sinners are like residents by the shallow water. Sooner or later they will be wiped out by such tsunamis in life. Our only escape is to follow Jesus out into the deep.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Ps. 119:105 ESV) Jesus leads us daily with His words. Of His words, those that we understand the least, reveal our shallowness the most, and are particularly meant to lead us into the deep. Road rage can instantly drive a person crazy to a point to commit a murder. Such a small offense can generate a tsunami that destroys lives. It testifies how shallow we are, because we are all angry drivers on life’s highway and are destined to die in road rage. Now that we are saved by Jesus, whenever we are offended, His words would ring in our ears, and we would not return with our fist, but turn the other cheek. Whenever we do that, we are following Jesus into the deep. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Rom. 6:14 ESV) If you treat every offense against you, not as an insult, but an invitation into the deep, you will leave the shallow bay of sin behind, and move deeper into the grace of God, which is an ocean of love too deep to fathom.
Prayer: O Lord! Lead us daily with your amazing love, so that we will not wander around, but to follow you into the deep. Help us live according to the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the body. Let the life of Jesus be found deep in our hearts!