Part 3: The Depth Of Water
Anyone who has taken their kids to the ocean or the pool has seen the same thing happen.
The kids will play all day long in the shallow end. They will splash, run, laugh, and never stop moving as long as their feet can touch the bottom. But the second the water gets past their waist, everything changes. Their eyes get wide, they stop playing and they reach for your hand.
Because deep water is different.
Shallow water lets you stay in charge. Deep water is bigger than yourself. It’s not controllable.
That is exactly what God shows Ezekiel in this vision. The water starts shallow, it gets deeper and every step forward requires a little more trust.
In Part 1 we saw what the water is. In Part 2 we saw where the water is aimed. In this part, we need to see how deep the water goes. Because the Christian life is not a wading pool; it’s a river. And Christ leads His people deeper on purpose.
What Ezekiel Saw
Ezekiel 47:3-5 “And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.”
Four measurements, four depths and each one deeper than the last. And a Guide who leads Ezekiel further into the water at every step.
Before we get to the four depths, stop and ask yourself an honest question.
If you have already drunk from this river, if you are saved and born again, where are you standing right now?
Are you ankle deep? Knee deep? Loin deep? Or are you in over your head, swimming with Christ, trusting Him with things you cannot understand?
Every Christian is standing somewhere in this river. The question is not whether you are in the water. The question is how deep you have let Christ take you.
1. Ankle Deep: Where Every Christian Starts
Ezekiel 47:3 “the waters were to the ankles.”
The first measurement was about a third of a mile out from the sanctuary. The water covered the soles of his feet and lapped up around his ankles.
This is where every Christian starts.
Ankle-deep water is the plain, simple truths of the Gospel:
* Salvation by Christ alone.
* Justification by His righteousness.
* Peace and pardon by His blood.
* The milk of the Word. It is what a newborn Christian can drink and grow on.
There is nothing wrong with ankle-deep water. Every Christian has to start there. But God did not save you to leave you there.
If you are ankle deep, you are saved but not settled. You know Jesus, but you do not know Him well. You believe the Gospel, but you have not built your life around it yet.
You are safe in the water, but there’s much you have not experienced.
2. Knee Deep: Where Prayer Begins
Ezekiel 47:4 “the waters were to the knees.”
Another third of a mile out. Now the water is up to his knees.
Knees are the posture of prayer. Every Christian who has ever gone deeper with God has learned to bend his knees.
Ankle-deep Christians pray occasionally. Knee-deep Christians pray regularly. This is where you stop just knowing about God and start actually talking to Him. This is where the Bible becomes a conversation and direction for your life.
At the ankles, you know Christ. At the knees, you know Him personally.
A Christian who is knee deep has learned that his day does not run right without prayer. He has learned that his decisions do not settle without prayer. He has learned that his heart does not stay soft without prayer.
If you are knee deep, you have gone past salvation into fellowship. You are talking to God, not just about Him.
3. Loin Deep: Where Strength Comes From
Ezekiel 47:4 “the waters were to the loins.”
Another third of a mile and now the water is up to his waist.
The loins are the seat of strength in Scripture.
When God tells His prophets to gird up their loins, He is calling them to strength for the work ahead.
When Paul tells the Ephesians to stand having their loins girt about with truth, he is telling them where their strength has to come from.
At the loins, the current is stronger than your legs. You cannot stand still and fight it. You have to move with it.
This is where a Christian stops leaning on his own strength and starts leaning on God’s. This is where you realize your own effort will never be enough for the work God has for you. This is where you find that His strength really is made perfect in weakness.
A Christian who is loin deep is doing things he cannot do on his own:
* He is loving people he could not love on his own.
* He is forgiving things he could not forgive on his own.
* He is walking through trials he could not walk through on his own.
If you are loin deep, you have stopped trying to be strong and started letting God be strong through you.
4. Over Your Head: Where You Have To Trust Your Guide
Ezekiel 47:5 “and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.”
The fourth measurement is water that is over his head. His feet leave the bottom, he cannot walk anymore. He cannot wade and more importantly , he cannot control the current.
He has to swim.
And here is the truth that every Christian has to face at some point. The moment your feet leave the bottom, you are no longer guiding yourself.
When you are in over your head, you are not in charge anymore. You are following, trusting and l letting something bigger than you carry you.
This is what full surrender to Christ looks like. This is what being filled with the Spirit looks like. Fully surrendered.
Ezekiel had a guide who led him step by step, deeper and deeper, until his feet left the bottom. And you have a Guide too.
You have Christ, who leads you into all truth. You have the Holy Ghost, who lives in you and guides you in the ways of God. When your feet leave the bottom, they are the ones holding you up. They are the ones carrying you forward. They are the ones taking you where you could never go on your own.
A Christian who is over his head has stopped trying to understand everything and started trusting Christ with everything.
He does not need to know how it all works. He knows the One who is holding him up.
The Warning About Staying Shallow
Here is the sober truth of Ezekiel 47.
Most Christians never leave the ankles.
They get saved, get their feet wet and they come to church. They know the basics and then they stop.
They spend forty years in ankle-deep water. They never learn to pray. They never find their strength in God. They never let their feet leave the bottom. They never trust Christ with anything they cannot understand.
They are saved, but they are shallow.
The Guide did not stop at the first measurement. He kept walking, measuring and kept calling Ezekiel deeper. And every step forward was one step further from what Ezekiel could control.
That is the invitation of the Christian life. Come deeper. Let your feet leave the bottom and let carry you where you have never been.
Hast Thou Seen This?
The moment Ezekiel could no longer touch the bottom, Christ stopped and turned to him.
Ezekiel 47:6 “And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.”
He wanted Ezekiel to realize what had happened. He wanted him to see that the water had gotten deeper than he ever imagined. That there was more river ahead than he had ever seen behind.
The same question is being asked of you today.
Have you seen this? Have you seen that the water gets deeper? That there is more of Christ than you have discovered? That the river is not shallow?
Wherever you are, your Guide is still walking. He is still measuring and calling you deeper.
The river is deeper than you know. And your Guide is Christ.
Come deeper.
