You were not made for ankle-deep living.

“Travel joyfully because ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’ and nobody wants to travel with a critic.”

There are two kinds of people that I don’t want to be around any more than is absolutely necessary: whiners and critics.

There are two kinds of people I don’t want to be: a whiner or a critic.

What about you?

The sentence at the beginning of today’s post is how I have chosen to articulate one of my LifeCore values (processed through the Younique Life Design Experience).

“Joy in the Journey” has been a consistent theme of my life for at least the last 25 years.

And while some experiences in life just flat out stink, most of the time I’ve been able to find the joy.

I saw a sign in a nursing home a few days ago: “If you can’t see the bright side, polish the dull one.”

I love it!

This morning was my second day reading “The Insurgence” by Frank Viola.

In today’s reading, he talked about the two false gospels of legalism and libertinism, both of which are pathetic substitutes for the gospel of the kingdom.

The quote I picked out to share today: “In short, the libertine lives as if there is no God. The legalist lives as though she or he is God to everyone else.”

In my mind’s eye, I pictured a swimming pool that is shallow on both ends and deep in the middle.

Jesus is swimming in the deep water and invites us to joyfully dive in and join Him there. (The fact that He CAN walk on top of it doesn’t mean He never enjoys an invigorating swim).

In one shallow end is the legalist, who can’t experience joy because he’s too busy looking around and criticizing all the rule-breakers. People are running around the edge, diving where it’s shallow, splashing too much, and not waiting an hour after eating before getting in the pool.

He’s the critic. There oughta be more rules!

He won’t swim out in the deep water with Jesus because He can’t control things out there. Life in the shallows is much easier to manage.

In the other shallow end is the libertine, who can’t experience joy because he’s too bothered by everyone else’s rules. People should just be able to do what they want. Who put up all these stupid signs? This is a free pool!

He’s the whiner. There are too many rules!

He can’t let go and swim out in the deep water with Jesus because it might require something of him or his fun might be hindered by another swimmer. It’s easier to just splish-splash around in the shallows doing his thing.

All the while, Jesus is inviting us, “Dive in! The deep water is what you were made for! Join me! Your life matters too much to only live ankle deep!”

Question: Do you find yourself drawn to one shallow end more than the other? What steps can you take today to go deep?

Be amazing today, my friend.