WATER BABY EXTRAORDINAIRE
I had the best of intentions, but . . . have those words ever passed over your lips? I have to admit to a few unfinished projects and a couple of overlooked details in my life. Sometimes reality just gets in the way of intentions. Yeah, that's it; reality, not laziness! Well, this summer I was going to do my best and see if I could coax John, my eldest, into overcoming his timidity towards all things wet and teach him how to swim.
Unfortunately, it didn't happen. But, to my credit, it didn't happen because it didn't have to. He did it without my expertise, or at least without the aid of old pop looking over his shoulder and getting flustered to the point of drowning the sucker! Instead, Christian Bowyer, an eleven year old friend of John's, showed him how to swim as I did my best impression of a virile (or is that viral) lifeguard. It all happened when we were still at the Bowyers' trailer in Middleton, Nova Scotia.
John, at the tender age of eight, is now a full-fledged member of the swimming class. In fact, not only does he paddle the light fantastic, he also went right under the water, head and all! The penultimate accomplishment of his week was sliding down the water slide head first! Kids, don't do this at home! Johns' accomplishment was nothing short of amazing. In seven days, a complete transformation transpired — John went from a "waterless wonder" to a "water baby extraordinaire", and I didn't have a thing to do with it. My activities were limited solely to watching John's aquatic advancements. Of course, I still inserted an occasional well-placed, heart-felt standing ovation.
Funny thing is that I know if I had done the same prodding and poking that Christian did, John would have still been sitting back at the top of that slide. There's no doubt about it. Christian reached John in ways that old dad couldn't. John needed someone he could look up to and trust, who was still one of his peers, not a parent. It was all so organic and natural watching Christian interact with John. In fact, Christian really didn't intend to teach John how to swim, it just happened during their playing together.
Ok, so what's the point? The point is this--Jesus is our wiser, more experienced, peer. He is our God-given older, wiser brother with whom we can identify. So, when we look at Jesus, we see how the Lord wants us to swim through the dangerous currents of the world today. As we learn from Him, the fear of diving into life headfirst is at least controllable, if not removed, and sometimes downright fun! Part of the reason the Lord came, other than providing the way of salvation, was to show us God with "skin on." He wanted to connect with us in ways that just weren't possible unless He first became one of us. I don't know about you, but I appreciate such a feat! I am thankful that I have a hero, a model, a friend from Whom to learn.
Points to Ponder
Since Jesus is "God with skin on", we know that God understands us. Our God is not some far-removed being we can't connect with. He's someone who went through a lot of suffering and trouble just to make that contact. What a comfort it is knowing that God understands how we feel!
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One of the ways Jesus being "God with skin on" really counts in my book is that he became the "firstborn from among the dead." He was the first human to go down the slide of death head first and come back to show and tell us that it ain't so bad! Not only that, but He's promised the same safe trip to all who follow Him!
It's always astounded me that Paul once said, "imitate me!" I mean, would you be comfortable making such a statement to someone else. I have no problem telling people to imitate Christ, but imitate me? Paul was imitating Jesus, so he could tell others to imitate him. The point I'm trying to make here is that Jesus may be "God with skin on" but we're called to be Jesus to others. We are to be a "walking-talking-skin-on version of the Gospel". We're called to be examples, heroes, faithful representatives of Christ to our peers. Quite a responsibility isn't it? Isn't it about time we all started to help others learn to swim before it's too late?
Prayer
Lord, thank you for caring enough about us to send Your Son, Your perfect likeness, into this world as one of us so that we could see who You are and what we're called to be. Thank You for Jesus' love and example. Thank You for His journey to the cross on our behalf. Thank you for His journey down the slide of death so that we could know that the splash at the end of our lives isn't anything to fear if we know Jesus. Lord, forgive us for those times when we haven't been the example You would like us to be. Help us, through Your Spirit, to be truly heroic in our imitation of Your Son! Amen.
