Shooting the Curl
Theme of the Week: Taking God's Dare
Bruce Thielemann
Friday, January 24, 2003
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Key Bible Verses: Peter called … "Lord, … tell me to come … " "Come," Jesus said. So Peter went over the side (Matthew 14:28-29) Bonus Reading:Matt. 14:25-32
You have to impulsively lean into the wave—what a surfer calls the curl. The wave builds up, you ride ahead of it and then, just as it begins to crest, you mount the top of the crest and ride the current. You hear the whole Pacific Ocean roaring behind you because it understands itself to be in a race with you, and you're winning. Your surfboard trembles at your feet. And it sounds like ten thousand yards of tearing silk—that tremendous hiss that surges up under you. It's a magnificent experience!
If you ride the wave properly, you can crest the curl and, coming down the other side, turn into the wave so that the wave curls over your head. You find yourself in an silent tunnel of water. The water above is most thin, and the sunlight coming down spangles it so that it looks like green diamonds. If you want to, you can lean back against the wall of water behind you, and it lifts you and carries you like a pillow.
Now you can never know that—what it's like to be in a whirling, green cathedral—until you move into the midst of the wave, until you say yes to God's dares. It makes the whole ride we call life, worth living.
—Bruce Thielemann in Preaching Today
My Response: Have I ever risen to grasp God's discipleship dare?
Thought to Apply: Be extravagant for God or be extravagant for the devil, but for God's sake, don't be tepid!
—C. T. Studd (cricket player, missionary, 19th century)
Adapted from Preaching Today (36) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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