Swimming and Following Jesus

The other day, Logan and I went to see one of the students from my youth group in a swim meet. Swimming truly does have a culture of its own. I noticed that swimmers have their own handshakes, they all wore speedos and many of them wore funky hats (that were way too tight). I also noticed that swimmers are passionate in their sport and fiercely competitive.
As I sat and watched the different races, I thought back to teaching Logan how to swim. Logan and I have spend hundreds of hours at a local health club swimming in the pool. Although Logan doesn't wear a speedo or a tight cap and we don't have a swimmer handshake, he has no doubt learned to swim. I'm so proud of him. It wasn't always like this. Logan hasn't always been a swimmer.

There was a time when Logan was scared with the thought of being in a pool of water and he was even more petrified at being separated from his daddy in the water. He clinged to me...gripping me so tightly that their were often scratch marks down my arm. He would squeeze my neck and yell if I threatened to let him go and swim on his own. Although those days were just a couple of years ago, I can say with a proud fathers heart that Logan can now swim on his own. He loves the pool. He jumps in on his own, and can actually dive and touch the bottom of the deep end. I have to admit...the kid is good!

As I've mentioned it wasn't always like this. At times, we had to fight the timidity together. He had a fear of letting go of me so we conquered this fear together. He was reserved and dreaded the thought of being in the deeped on his own...and I had to challenge him to step out and have him believe in himself. All of this swimming and the lessons learned keep drawing me back to Jesus and what it means to follow Him.

Following Jesus can at times be very scary. I believe that if we're truly following Him, He'll call us to step out into the unknown where the only thing we have to rely on is His Word and who He says that He is. Jesus will often ask us to something really risky (like going to the bottom of the deep end), and the only think that we can cling to is the simple fact that He says that He will never fail us (enough for me).

I've learned so much from the swimming pool and teaching Logan how to be a swimmer. Their are so many parallels to my walk with Jesus and what it means to follow Him with my "entire being". Trust, faith, adventure and risk are all things that I've seen in the swimming pool and things that God calls His followers to live out. Is there any other way to live? Is it really living if we settle for mediocrity, second-best and life that is adventure-less? Maybe the bigger question is, "Is it really swimming, if we never let go, and cling to comfort and security?

May Jesus today give me the audacity and courage to do the things He's calling me to do, and be the man He's calling me to be. It always involves risk. It's always adventure-filled and always a life of trust and faith...just like a swimming pool.

Go swim!