Inspire

That exciting time of the year has finally hit the Reception to Year 4 children at St Paul, -Swimming Week- 

Now, I don’t need to quote the current swim safety and water statistics to confirm just how important swimming lessons are for children living in Australia.

Whether you were lucky enough to have a backyard pool (or know someone!), or visit the local council pool or ventured to the many beautiful beaches that cling to our coastline, we all know that…

Water and Children = is Australian culture to the tee. 

The made me think that swimming is a bit like Christian life…

There are two issues to consider when swimming: the support of the water and the actions of the swimmer. There is no doubt that the water will hold you up if you can relax, and in this way it is possible to float. It is very restful, but it does not move you forward towards the end of the pool.

If you can’t trust the water, even doing suitable movements will not help you to swim to your goal. What is necessary is for the swimmer to do two things simultaneously. They need to be disciplined in their actions and to relax in harmony with the supporting water. 

Can you see the analogy with the Christian life? God’s love is the medium in which we desire to live and move. His love upholds us and if we relax and allow His love to support us, we will ‘float’ in His love. However He has made us for a purpose and has plans for our lives and He wants us to reach our full potential. So we need to do our part in order to move forward and not to just float aimlessly. We need to learn the discipline of the ‘strokes’ of the Christian life. This involves learning God’s ways and following his patterns of living. So, we need to do two things to fulfill our destiny. We need to rest and relax in His love and at the same time move in a disciplined and purposeful way.

Just something to think about as you collect that wet towel off the floor and you look for that missing sock this week or next week!

Extract taken from ‘A Swimming Lesson’  by Denise Cross

Submitted by Claire Fisher