Accept Him as Lord
Mt 11:27-30 "All things are delivered to Me by My Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son will reveal Him. Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."
Mt 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth."
John 12:26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also My servant shall be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."
Receive the Holy Spirit
Luke 24:49 "And behold, I send the promise of My father on you. But you sit in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high."
John 7:37 And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
John 20:21-22 Then Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you. As My Father has sent Me, even so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
Acts 1:4-5 And having met with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await "the promise of the Father which you heard from Me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
I think about working on the canal for Dad. I "eye-balled" the measurements and lined up the channel by the shore which was itself jagged. I dug with only a vague idea of it's alignment. I had a shovel to use, but no outline on the swampy turf. I worried constantly if it was right. What should have worried me was the depth, but I didn't know. No one coached me and instructions were incomplete and my father was off doing something else all day. I couldn't ask for directions.
Then I think of all those without a Bible or without the Holy spirit. Lining up by the natural they can see. Using the crude tools of logic and an infant science. Or with burned sacrifices of any logic or science. Jumbling to find a way to God with rules, regulations, exercises, rites, gurus or sifus and performances to entertain the masses. Some of them are even sitting next to us in the pews, believing anything said by anyone with the vaguest aspect of authority.
Sometimes, when I go rushing headlong like Peter, running out onto unstable surfaces that can't support me and then floundering for lack of faith, I end up joining them. You, too?
Remember He's there next time and do what I failed to do: Ask Him about your directions before you go digging ditches that are meant to be deeper, wider or more enduring. He'll give you the instructions and always be there if you have questions. You'll have to pay attention when he answers, but that's just to keep you sharp.
And maybe just a little deeper as well.
