Day by Day - Jan. 26, 2012

Skimming the Surface

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Job 11

Are you seeking to know the depths of God, or are you just skimming the surface?

Can you discover the depths of God? 
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? 
They are high as the heavens, what can you do? 
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? (Job 11:7–8)

Let me repeat the question: Are you seeking to know the depths of God, or are you just skimming the surface? Only you know the answer. Our current culture is so busy we can become proficient at faking it. We can look like we're going to the depths when, in fact, we're just skating. So you must answer for yourself. Are you seeking to know the depths of God? Or do you find that you're just attending a lot of religious meetings, reading a few religious books, and learning all the religious-sounding language.

One of Larry Crabb's books is titled The Pressure's Off. In it he writes,

As a culture, present-day Christianity has redefined spiritual maturity. The reformers knew we were saved to glorify God. We moderns live to be blessed. The mature among us are now thought to be the successful, the happy, the effective people on top of things and doing well . . . We're more attracted to sermons, books, and conferences that reveal the secrets to fulfillment . . . than to spiritual direction that leads us through affliction into the presence of the Father.¹

We seem more interested in managing life into a comfortable existence than in letting God spiritually transform us through life's hardships.

That cuts to the quick, doesn't it? Don't run from the hardship. Don't seek a friend who'll help you get out from under it quickly. Stay there. Stay in it. The Lord God will get you through it. As a result you'll stop skating.

This question is for you to answer: personally, introspectively, truly. Are you seeking to know the depths of God, or are you just skimming the surface?

Reprinted by permission. Day by Day, Charles Swindoll, July 2005, Thomas Nelson, inc., Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Purchase "Day by Day" here.