Little 9 year-old Jordan did not stand a chance against the vast ocean. On top of a giant floating death trap, me, my Dad and my little sister Abbie wanted to explore so we set out on our raft and realized after just a few minutes that we were being pulled further and further away beyond our abilities to make it back. Without warning we were miles out and came to the reality that the our rowing was not getting us any closer to shore. Frantically we all went to the back of the raft and started kicking with everything that we had, however we just went back and forth and never really made any progress towards to shore. All I wanted to do was to dip my head in the water to get a drink, but my dad warned me that it would just tire me out. Finally, after two hours of kicking and paddling, we finally caught some lucky waves and made our way back to shore.
First of all, I would like to say how important it is to speak life. Paris was attacked on Friday, November 13th, 2015, by an evil that most of us can only imagine. Approximately 150 people lost their lives to the evil spoken by a tongue that gave way to death. Love was created by God to show unconditional forgiveness and call us to action. Let us not be afraid to stand up to injustice and bring truth to the forefront of our culture and who we really are in Christ.
The Holy Spirit should have full reign over us when we read scripture. One of the things that I have experienced is that when you bring God into the equation, He brings life! Hebrews 4:12 – “For the Word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE”.
In the third chapter of his book, James uses a lot of symbolism that absolutely should move us to action. However, let us dive into the text before I get too ahead of myself.
For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things..” – James 3:2-5
James has come to the honest conclusion that the only way to direct our lives is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
In the famous words of Ron Swanson, “I fear that you misunderstood what I just said”. Being filled by biblical standards is almost a polar opposite from what we think it is. When you’re filled by the Holy Spirit, you’re drawing from a well that never runs dry. It’s not a measuring cup – it cannot be contained.
Scientists have confirmed that the one of the strongest things in the whole world is the process of change when water turns to ice. If you have a vacuum-sealed container full of water and you begin to freeze it, if the water successfully freezes, there is no vacuum-sealed container on earth that can hold it inside. When we are filled with the words of God there is no power of hell and no deterrent of Satan that can contain the power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead in us.
The purpose of this pep talk from James is basically to call out two faced people. Verse after verse James promulgates that your words if guided by anything but Jesus will conclude in evil. I have experienced this in my own life because I grew up in my teenage years tremendously blessed by God with the gift of public speaking. I could create a beautiful exposé of the gospel but at the same time I could be treating my sisters like crap or talking badly about someone that I knew. Ignoring this command is why connection to God is so “surface level” with many Christian, and why any wave will shake things up. The Holy Spirit will bring us to a depth where storms and situations can not dismantle who we are in Christ.
Towards the end of the passage, James says something beautiful –
“Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” – James 3:11-12
Number five on Amazon’s all-time best selling list is the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (if you haven’t had the chance to read it, please do). In the book, the main character – a WWII pilot name Louie – crashes into the Pacific after his plane is shot down, luckily finds a rescue raft, and spends over a month floating in the ocean literally dying of thirst. Why on earth does a man die of thirst while surrounded by water?? It’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! However, when a man drinks salt water, the salt slowly dehydrates the body and will quickly kill whoever drinks it.
So in the end – if you’ve been drinking salt water for years, living a spiritually dead life, stranded and adrift in the middle of the ocean like my family’s raft was – I urge you speak with Jesus, and let him speak over yourself and over others. This will ultimately boast great things of hope to the world, and ultimately bring pleasure to God.
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” – Exodus 34:29
GREATER DEPTHS 