Lessons from the Water Park

Last Wednesday night my husband did a short devotional after Bible classes. I wanted to share it with you. I may not get all of the details he gave, but you'll still get the general idea and message.

The Tipton Children's Home family to the water park on Monday.  One of the "big rides" was the Cliffhanger.  

 On the Cliffhanger, guests grabbed a tube, walked many flights of stairs, and sat down on the tube (my husband and youngest son rode together). The attendant tied himself/herself to the side of the top with a big, heavy cord, then grabbed the tube and gave a big "push" to it to start it down the HUGE ride. It's a lot of work to go on the ride, but the end result is worth it.

In the middle of the water park, there is a Lazy River that runs in a great big circle.  The lazy river isn't fast, but just an easy thing to do that doesn't require a lot of effort. The current can take you around and around and around as many times as the guest wants to go.

The problem with the Lazy River is that, once someone gets on, it may be hard to get off.  There is a tendency to get what the name suggests: Lazy! There are no stairs to climb, no tubes to carry, no responsibility.  But, on the other hand, there's no reward at the end like there is on the Cliffhanger. There's no feeling of accomplishment.  No task completed.

Isn't it the same way with life?  We climb, we carry, we feel like we're not going to make it up a steep hill, but then the reward at the end is so awesome that it makes the difficulty all worth it?  But it's also true that if we get in a rut, get lazy, and seem to go round and round in circles that we don't get anywhere....we're just coasting....then we wonder why nothing is going the way it should in our life.

We could say the same thing about our Christian walk.  Our walk with Jesus should be going up, up, up all of the time.  There may be short times that we slow down, but we should never, ever get on the Lazy River! If we're not growing, we're just coasting.  If we're not climbing, we just as well be going downhill.  Jesus wants us to GROW.  He's not satisfied with lukewarm Christians.  God expects more from His children. He expects us to DO something.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  Revelation 3:15-16

If you're on the Lazy River, GET OFF!  If you're on the Cliffhanger, and you're tired of the uphill climb, just be patient. You're reward is coming!  And in the end, you'll see that it was worth the climb.