Water is Essential

Water is essential. Our bodies are made up of more than 70% water, and we can only live a limited number of days without H2O hydration. Man has used water as a mode of transportation for centuries, and creating energy from water has flowed from paddle wheels to hydroelectric transformers in our nation's young history. Water is essential. 

 

Probably one of the best things I ever did was learn how to swim as a young child. My respect of water and appreciation of the recreational aspects of water have made me a water dog of sorts. Get me near water and I want to jump in. Just one reason why I would continue to assert that water is essential. The trouble with water is when we don't know how to swim. The result of that predicament is we run the risk of drowning. More than likely you have used the phrase "They are in over their head" meaning what's going on is too big for them to handle alone, or possibly you may have said, "I'm going to dive into the deep end of the pool" proclaiming that you are ready to face the bigger challenge that is standing in front of you. "We may stick our toe in the water", or you might just be "treading water", as the references to liquid life flow like a flowering fountain. My analogy is this, water is as essential to life as the problems, hardships, trials, and afflictions we face throughout our day to day existence. We either have to learn to swim or we run the risk of drowning in our own life's pool of water.

 

Today's thought "Water is Essential" goes without saying, I suggest that life's uncomfortable circumstances are likewise "essential". The earlier we learn to swim literally, the more comfortable we are in a pool, lake, or even in the expansive ocean with its waves tossing us back and forth. In life, the sooner we understand the value of adversity and affliction (Isaiah 30:20), the better equipped we are to swim through the circumstances of life we have been handed. At times it may even feel like we are just treading water as nothing seems to improve, and at times we may actually feel like the waves of life are too insurmountable to carry on, but that is when knowing how to swim carries us through. 

 

Swimming lessons are a must. Some of us may be self-taught swimmers, but to really be effective in water, lessons provided by a well-trained lifeguard raise our efficiency in the water, and thus gives us the confidence to take one more stroke moving us forward. In my life I have learned to swim by the One True Lifeguard. His Word gives me strength to face the waves and storms of life. When I feel like I can't even tread the circumstances that I find myself in, His example allows me to swim on through, always seeking a safe shore on which to reach. I know when I get tired, He is there to throw me a life preserver if I need it! In Galatians 6:9 Paul challenges us with, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." When you feel like the water is too deep, don't give up, swim on! When the current is pulling you the wrong way, don't grow weary, swim on! When you have gone under two times, keep your head up and swim on! God is there with you and He will never let you sink to the bottom of the pool. 

 

Just as we started our time together today I want to finish with the statement, water is essential. We will either use it to learn how to swim, or we will allow it to drown us in the same pool of water. Our job is to use water to teach us how to swim and then call on our soul's lifeguard to assure we are swimming in the right direction, headed for the right shore!

Coach Carter