A mighty river of grace flows throughout history. This river is the river of life, which flows toward the healing of the nations and the restoration of all things. Those who swim in this river experience rest, refreshment, hope for the future and strength for today. To be sure, they are not perfect, but those who swim in the river of grace are being conformed into the image of Jesus.
Jesus lived, died and rose again to make a way for sinners to swim in the eternal current of God’s grace. And as a living Savior, Jesus invites us to enter that river for our sake and for the sake of the world.
Sadly, many Christians trade the richness of swimming for a life spent watching. This happens for all sorts of reasons. It can feel safer to stand on the sandy bank and watch. We might not know, or we might have forgotten, the strokes that help us swim. Other things may seem more important. Sure, there was a time when a life of sacrifice and compassion, mission and evangelism seemed compelling. But now we are older, and the water looks cold.
Yet the invitation from Jesus remains the same: Enter the river and swim.
So the question becomes, “What spiritual disciplines help us swim?”
This is such an important question–so important that starting in January we are going to do a 9-week series exploring the answers. In this series, we will discover spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, intentional submission to Jesus, and generosity that untold numbers of Christians have practiced as they swim with Jesus in the eternal current of God’s grace.
As we prepare for this series, I’d love to encourage you to read Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. I read it this past summer in preparation for this series, and it has helped me, as I’m sure it’s helped many others, discover a richer life with Jesus.
Charlie Sandberg is a Colorado transplant from Minnesota who enjoys writing, reading, running and spending time with his family. He is the teaching pastor at Faith and has been a member for 13 years. He loves helping people know and love Jesus by teaching the Bible.