How Deep Does Your Love Go?
Adapted from the sermon “Sent With Power,” preached by Pastor Donald Gray on .
Ezekiel saw water at the ankles, then the knees, then the waist, then deep enough to swim. That rising water is a picture of your love — and most of us stop early.
Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water had risen, water in which one must swim.
I want to be honest with you before I start. I have not arrived at what I am about to describe. But in the name of Jesus, I am going to get there. I may not be at a certain level yet, but I am getting there — and I want you coming with me.
What did Ezekiel see in the water?
He saw water that kept rising the further he went.
In Ezekiel 47, the water comes up to his ankles. Then he goes further and it comes to his knees. Further still and it is at his waist. And then it is water to swim in.
Four measurements. Same river. The only thing that changed was how far in he was willing to walk.
What does that water have to do with me?
It is a picture of your love.
Say it with me: my love came up to my ankles. That is where a lot of us live — love you can walk around in without much getting wet. It is real, and it is shallow.
Then the love comes to your knees. You can do a whole lot of things when your love is at your knees. You have seen people operating there and it looks like plenty.
Then the water comes to your waist. And then it comes to your neck. That is where you do a whole bunch of stuff, because now the river is carrying more of you than you are carrying of yourself.
What happens when the water is deep enough to swim?
You lose your footing, and that is the point.
At the ankles you are in control. At the knees you are still in control. Even at the waist your feet are on the bottom and you can walk back out whenever you decide you have had enough.
Swimming is different. Swimming means the ground is gone and the river has you. When you get to that point, there is nothing you cannot do — precisely because you are no longer the one holding yourself up.
Most of us stop at the waist. We go deep enough to feel the current but never so deep that we could not turn around. Ask yourself honestly where the water is on you right now, and whether you have been standing in the same spot for years calling it growth.
Walk further out.
Questions from this reading
- What are the four levels of water in Ezekiel 47?
- The water rises to the ankles, then the knees, then the waist, then becomes deep enough that you must swim. Each stage takes you further from being able to stand on your own footing.
- What does the rising water represent?
- It is a picture of how deep your love goes. Love at the ankles lets you stay in control. Love deep enough to swim in means you are no longer standing on your own strength at all.
- Why do most people stop before the deep water?
- Because up to the waist you can still touch the bottom. Swimming means giving up your footing entirely, and that is the point most of us decide we have gone far enough.
Watch the full sermon
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