Daily Devotional: Friday, October 4 – Go Deeper

“However search first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all this stuff will probably be given to you as properly.” — Matthew 6:33

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Among the many many breakout and shocking performances on the 2024 Paris Olympics, a memorable one was a younger French swimmer named Leon Marchand. Educated by the identical coach who took Michael Phelps to all-time greatness, Marchand confirmed among the identical expertise and aggressive prowess that characterised his predecessor for therefore lengthy, and the outcomes proved it: 4 gold medals in 4 particular person occasions.

With Phelps trying on, Marchand made an announcement to the game that he’s right here to win huge and in type. However maybe one of many not-so-obvious secrets and techniques that was revealed about Marchand was the significance of his turns underwater. As the sector comes crashing into the wall and flips over, waves are created that churn up the water for the primary few meters when you’ve turned. This may create even the slightest little bit of drag and make it more durable to go sooner and smoother, particularly when you’re making an attempt to guard a lead or catch an opponent. Marchand stated he realized a trick from watching previous movie of Phelps and has tried to grasp it himself: on the flip, go deeper into the nonetheless water; push more durable on the wall, and propel your self additional into the depths of the pool. That method, you may get underneath the wave and pop up in clear water, providing you with that further fringe of pace you’re in search of.

Creator Ann Voskamp was impressed by the religious metaphor of this and had an attractive tackle it: “What occurs underneath the floor is what is going to in the end overcome. What decides the race of life is the inside life. When the depth of issues goes greater is once we go deeper. … The drag occurs once you keep on floor. … If you happen to’re bored with the drag, go deeper.”

One take a look at our busy world, and it’s not laborious to see that a lot of our each day life occurs on the floor: the floor of our office, our tales, {our relationships}. Most of us get caught within the waves when what we want most is to go deeper. Deeper into prayer, deeper into the Phrase, deeper into quiet and reflection, deeper into Jesus. What retains us from dropping it and getting caught within the drag of issues is prioritizing what occurs on the within.

In reflecting on Psalm 42:1 — “Because the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God” — the late Eugene Peterson put it properly: “What water is to the deer, God is to me. I merely will need to have God. … I don’t need what’s left over from God after final week’s thundershower. I need Him contemporary, flowing, dwelling. What I realized in Sunday faculty within the third grade is not going to fulfill me. What I learn within the Bible final week is not going to fulfill me. What somebody advised me this morning on tv or radio is not going to quench my thirst. I need to get to the water myself. I will need to have God.”

If you happen to’re simply dwelling life on the floor, maybe it’s time to go deeper. To dive into the dwelling waters of salvation and uncover what’s beneath. By entering into the quiet, clear waters and going beneath the waves, you’ll be able to meet God within the stillness and discover the peace, the momentum that interprets right into a successful life.

— Katherine Singer

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