This week we're going into deeper water.
But let me start by saying something good. If you're reading this, there's a strong chance you love Jesus. You've trusted Him. You pray. You show up. Some of you have been following Him for decades.
That's real, and it matters. Heaven doesn't take your faith lightly, and neither do I.
But I've noticed something in a lot of believers. If I'm honest, I've noticed it in the mirror too.
We're saved, but we're stuck.
We know the songs. We know the verses. We know what we believe and why. But our walk with God feels about the same as it did five years ago.
Same prayers. Same distance. Same Sunday.
Not cold. Not rebellious. Just stuck.
Here's why that matters. Listen to how Jesus defines eternal life. It's the night before the cross, and He's praying to the Father.
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
Most of us think of eternal life as a destination. A ticket. Something that starts when we die.
Jesus describes it as a relationship. Something that starts now.
Eternal life isn't just living forever. It's knowing God forever, starting today.
And the word Jesus uses for know isn't about collecting facts. It's personal, firsthand, ongoing. It's the language of intimacy.
There's a big difference between knowing about someone and knowing them.
I can know about my favorite quarterback. Where he played in college. His stats. What he said in his last interview. But if I walked up to the locker room and said, "He knows me," security would not be impressed.
A lot of Christians know about God the way we know about famous people. Accurate information. No real closeness.
We can tell you He's faithful. We can't remember the last time we sat with Him long enough to hear Him.
Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Abundant. Overflowing. More than enough.
So here's the honest question today is meant to expose. Is what you're living right now what Jesus died to give you?
Or is there more?
The writer of Hebrews spoke to believers who had stalled out. "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food."
That wasn't written to unbelievers. It was written to church people.
People who had been around long enough to be mature, but had settled into spiritual baby food.
Now, milk isn't bad. Every one of us started there. The problem isn't starting with milk. The problem is staying there.
You can be saved for thirty years and still be living on the first week of your faith.
Here's the picture we'll carry all week. In Ezekiel 47, the prophet sees a river flowing out from the temple of God. First it's ankle deep. Then knee deep. Then waist deep. Then it becomes a river you have to swim in.
Most believers live their whole lives at the ankles.
Wet enough to say we've been in. Shallow enough to stay in control.
But God didn't save you so you could splash around the shallow end until heaven. Peter says Christ suffered "that He might bring us to God."
Not just to forgiveness. Not just out of judgment. To God.
Salvation is the doorway. Knowing Him is the house.
So this week isn't a guilt trip. It's an invitation.
There is more of God than you have experienced. And He wants you to have it.
The deep end isn't for super Christians. It's for anyone who is tired of settling for less than Him.
Today's Challenge
Read John 17:1-3 slowly. Then set a timer for ten minutes, silence your phone, and talk to God like He's in the room with you, not like He's a topic. When the timer goes off, write one honest sentence: "Right now, my walk with God feels like ____." Keep that paper. You'll need it on Day 6.
Prayer
Father, thank You for saving me. I don't take that lightly. But I don't want to stop at the doorway. Forgive me for settling for knowing about You when You've invited me to know You. Stir up a hunger in me, not for more information, but for more of You. Take me past the shallow end. In Jesus' name, amen.
Reflection
- If I'm honest, do I know God, or do I mostly know about Him?
- Is my walk with God deeper than it was a year ago, or just longer?
- Where have I settled for the ankles when He has been inviting me further in?