Recently at church we sang “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand”
and it reminded me of the rock on which we stood Father’s Day weekend in Beaver
Creek for family baptisms. The top picture below is of the creek in Big Trees
State Park. For scale that log is about 4 feet across at the shoreline. The
bottom picture shows the current.
At the end of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,
“…everyone who hears these words of mine and does them may be compared to a
wise man who built his house on the rock… and the rivers came and the winds
blew and slammed against that house and it did not fall“ (Matthew 7:24,25). Those
who followed Christ in baptism were doing what He said to do. We stood on the
rock, and we felt its solid foundation against the current of the stream.
On the creek’s bedrock we experienced stability against the
current, not only for our baptisms but for our enjoyment. That stability did
not keep us from feeling the strength of the flow. The rock didn’t shelter or
protect us from the current but made it possible for us to stand and walk about
in it. This is how Jesus calls us to follow Him all our life. In spite of difficulty
in keeping balance, resistance from constant pressure, and confusion as to
where exactly to step or how deep is the water, Jesus tells us to follow Him
and trust Him like standing on stone because we are, on the Cornerstone (yet
another cherished metaphor of our Savior).
Another symbol of the Christian life is Living Water representing the Holy Spirit. Life in the
living water is subject to the current and flow of His will. It is not always
quiet and calm. It does not always go the way we want. But when we thirst for righteousness,
it is always satisfying.
After the baptisms my young grandkids held my hands so we
could walk together around the creek. Through water deep for them they trusted
me to keep them from danger, from being whisked away downstream. They were too
small to determine how we would go through that water, only I could do that
because I was taller and heavier. That is like what Jesus tells us, “Hold onto
Me, trust Me and go where I go.”
