If you get in the water, you make waves.

Ask anyone who’s ever been at a pool party while three college guys do a coordinated stealth attack featuring belly flops, a canon ball, and that weak upright and indecisive jump into the water we’ve all seen people do. Ask anyone who’s been fishing in a small rowboat or enjoying the morning in a kayak as a large boat cruises by with a few water skiers. Water is like that; everyone in the water makes waves, both big and small.

This world we live in is certainly like water in this way. Each of us impacts others in the way we live our life, intentional or not. In fact, just like the oceans and “Great Lakes” I’ve enjoyed being in, life itself sends waves in our direction. Relationships, conflict, finances, current events on TV and the internet; all of these waves proceed into our direction and shake up our lives. Just like a day at the beach, sometimes we enjoy diving into the waves. Sometimes we enjoy laying in the sand listening to the sound of the waves and work on our tan. And sometimes we’re just trying to relax with a rowboat and a fishing pole when big waves hit disrupt the whole plan.

So I got to thinking one day, why can’t I make my own waves? Why should I have to float around like that water bottle that some jerk threw into the water instead of recycling? Why can’t each of us learn to ride the waves on water skis instead of being splashed around like seaweed and litter?

Well, I can. Mostly. And so can you. If we get in the water, we can make waves. I have experienced the grace of forgiveness and redemption through Jesus Christ. I’m already not the trash floating about because of what He did on the cross and the whole empty tomb thing. In fact, since coming to Christ and try hard each day to let Him make me more like Him somehow, I’ve already jumped into the water. Sometimes life fires off waves that turn me around or flip me over, but other times I’m in there splashing around like the beginner swimmers at summer camp. It isn’t always pretty, but I keep getting better. My life makes waves that affect my family, my neighborhood, and everyone I know. My choices make waves that can either help people drift in the right direction, or flip their boats over. Either way, I’m making waves. So are you.

So lets MAKE WAVES. Let’s live in such a way that what we do affects everyone else in the pool. Or the lake. Or the world. Let’s coordinate our jumps, even if they are not pretty, so that we bless everyone else in the water and keep them above water. I’ll talking in real terms now: serving others both NEAR in our own neighborhoods and also FAR away in other cities and countries. We can make waves by helping people in need both inside the church walls and outside our little world altogether. We can make waves not so they are big and bring us attention, but for the benefit of others.

MAKING WAVES is not just an analogy; it is a way of life. MAKE WAVES with me in whichever pond or river you find yourself in. We do what we do because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. We MAKE WAVES near and far to point others to Him. Let’s get in the water. Let’s MAKE WAVES.

If you get in the water, you make waves. How will you MAKE WAVES today?