I had this thought last night as I sat in the bleachers at my daughter’s basketball game. I was just cheering on the team, minding my own business and this thought came to me, "How deep do you want to go?" I knew what it meant.
People have all kinds of ideas on what it means to get "deep" in God, the deep things of God, deep spiritual experiences and the like. I love rich, meaty, "deep" times in my personal walk with God, in corporate worship services, in prayer, in meetings where the Holy Spirit is flowing.
Personally, I love all of that, but then I heard this question ... "How deep do you want to go?"
At the same moment, I was immediately reminded of a passage of Scripture. (Keep in mind, I am still sitting in the bleachers of a basketball game!) In Luke 5:4, Jesus told his disciples:
The idea is that we are really "deep" when we are catching fish ... reaching the lost. The deeper we go the more it leads us to win people to Christ! The deep things lead us to evangelism! Fishing for men ... reaching seekers. Being a soul-winner is about as deep as it gets. If we are not catching the lost and loading our nets with seekers, we may not be as "deep" as we think. The purpose for going deep is to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Deep = Soul-winning! :)
The rest of the passage is pretty exciting:
But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men." (Luke 5:5-11 NKJV)
Wanna be a deep Christian? Launch out into the deep. Let down your nets. Win souls!
... he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men—he gathers and receives them for eternity]. (Proverbs 11:30, AMP)
Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.
