Jump: A Spiritual Lesson From the High Dive
My bare feet made their way up the ladder, mortified to back out now. A jump from the high-diving board.
Could I pull it off with a secret fear of heights?
A public embarrassment to turn around and go the same way I had arrived—down the ladder and past the people waiting in line.
And I just knew as pool-siders gawked behind sunglasses, What a scaredy-cat! would also cross their minds.
My twin sister and I hung out at the local pool several days a week every summer. This adventure happened in sixth or seventh grade.
Yes, younger kids jump off high dives. You see, I mustered up enough courage to make jumps, oodles of them, off the low dive. Because it was low.
Yet, even for this high-dive feat, I wasn’t planning a crowd-pleasing, eyebrow-raising dive or backwards flip. Never a good diver, I kind of fell into the water from the sidelines, my arms in position to lead the way.
My dives lacked perfect form and a straight body—bent legs always gave me away. Not olympic material (judges score cards read 3.0), you probably wonder why all the fretting, sweating, and heart skipping to jump? That’s all…jump.
Still, friends coaxed us, the Clarkston twins, into executing this jump. Since we needed to protect our good name as part of the hip crowd, we accepted the challenge.
Execute the Jump
But at the bottom of the high-dive ladder, a going first tug-of-war ensued. “You go first.” “No, you go first.” Then, I reluctantly agreed to jump first.
As I walked the board, I encouraged myself with a pep talk. For goodness sake, Karen, get a grip on yourself. Just jump off the end of this long board into nice, soft, sparkling water. You can do this. Stay straight and vertical. Oh, and guard against busting the water on entry, busts hurt like crazy! No pressure.
This high-diving-board story ends with a sigh and an inward celebration to remain impressively cool. Horray, I did it!
Again. And, again. My sister and I jumped multiple times.
Although I set the example by jumping first, I always preferred the low dive. I’m a low-dive-and-low-altitude kind of girl.
Jump First
I know another who went first. Again. And, again. The One we never need to implore to go first. No begging, “Please, with sugar on top and whipped topping and a cherry? Pretty, please?” No…none of that.
This is where going first originated. “We love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19, ESV).
God not only stepped into a position of first, but Jesus also positioned Himself in a posture for firsts.
Jesus went first. In love. And in forgiveness. In death. And in life.
Jump Posture
With Christ as our example, we position our life to love as He loved us. We posture our heart to forgive as He forgave us. Like Jesus died, unselfishly bearing a cross, we die to self—our way, idols, and desires of the flesh—as we bear a cross daily.
With Christ as our example, we position our life to love as He loved us. We posture our heart to forgive as He forgave us. #spiritual #posture Click To TweetAnd we live sold-out for our heavenly Father, accomplishing His plan on earth and in our life as Jesus lived.
As Jesus lived, we live sold-out for our heavenly Father, accomplishing His plan on earth and in our life. #SOLDOUT #GodsWill Click To TweetSo let’s jump in with both feet. Jump in from the sidelines. Or, jump from the low or high dive. Ease in from the pool-side ladder. Or, come slip-sliding down the slide.
Jump for a Big Splash
But, by all means, get in the water. Live life to the fullest. Make a big splash in a large way for the One who went first. Jesus.
By all means, get in the water. Live life to the fullest. Make a big splash in a large way for the One who went first. #Jesus #LifeLessons Click To TweetWhich “going first” posture is most difficult for you?
*Sometimes I participate in these link-ups:
Legacy Linkup/Inspire Me Monday/Kingdom Bloggers/Literacy Musings/Tell His Story/Purposeful Faith/Abounding Grace/Welcome Heart/Recharge Wednesday/Porch Stories/Destination Inspiration/Worth Beyond Rubies/Tune in Thursday/Sitting Among Friends/Heart Encouragement/Embracing the Unexpected/Fresh Market Friday/Faith On Fire/Dance With Jesus and Faith and Friends.
© 2019 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved
Love this! Yes, jump. Get in the water. Jesus is our reason. Nothing is impossible with Him. Blessings to you!
Thanks, Lisa. Let’s jump in with both feet. Jump in from the sidelines. Or, jump from the low or high dive. Ease in from the pool-side ladder. Or, come slip-sliding down the slide. Just get in the water however we can!
Why don’t I make a big splash?! Seriously. It sounds like I need to look at how I’m living for Jesus and get BOLD!
Rebecca, great reflection we all need to ask ourselves. Thanks for sharing!
God stretches us when He pulls us out of our comfort zones. Thanks and God bless! Happy swimming!
He sure does, Nancy. I’ve learned stretching and moving out of comfort zones is often the greatest blessings on the Christian journey. We just never realize it at the time.
I can picture the scene at the pool, so familiar to many of us. And I can feel the reward of accomplishment for diving in. With following God, it is the same. It can be scary but so rewarding. Wonderful words of encouragement.
Appreciate your thoughts, Yvonne. Following the Lord into the unknown and past our fears and hesitation for new adventures, promises great reward.
Boy, can I ever identify with your fear of heights, Karen! I did manage a few forays from the high dive as a child, but I never really liked it even then. And you’ve given us such an inspirational analogy here, my friend. No matter how we get into the pool with Jesus, by all means, get in!!!
Blessings!
We are kindred spirits, Martha. To this day, I still do not care for heights. But I hope to go to soaring heights with Jesus and jump in with both feet to God’s full purpose in my life and for His kingdom! Thanks for commenting. God bless!
Karen, I think this post was written just for me. I loved it! I have been thinking a lot lately about living water. We do need to jump right into the living water! Thanks for sharing the story of the brave little girl who was not afraid to jump!
I’m glad this post spoke to you, Laurie. I like how you brought living water into the conversation.I hope we learn to be brave in Jesus Christ. And that our jumping and living cause a ripple effect for others to long for living water.
Love this message! 🙂
Melissa, thanks so much. May we make those jumps from soaring spiritual heights living sold-out for our heavenly Father, accomplishing His plan on earth and in our life as Jesus lived.
What a wonderful analogy to help us contrast with our Savior, the One who went first and goes first in all ways! One of my favorite verses – We love because He first loved us. It’s all about Him! God gave us life, then sent His Son to die for our sins that we may also enjoy eternal life. Out of unending gratitude, may we be sold out, all in, on fire for Jesus!
Amen, Melissa. Preach, sister! I pray we position our life to love as He loved us. We posture our heart to forgive as He forgave us. Thanks for commenting!
This is SO, SO good! You flipped that swimming pool dive story, and all of a sudden we’re talking about Jesus going first, always, and then, what do you know? I’m crying. This struck me in the heart! What a beautiful Savior we have, always first in everything, in all the things we’re so very glad he spared us from ever having to do! Thank you, Jesus!
Thank you, Melinda. Glad it touched you. You’re such a great encouragement and blessing to me. And I’m forever grateful how Jesus went first. In love. And in forgiveness. In death. And in life. I pray the Lord gives us the strength to follow suit…to model this to others.
Karen, what a great story. I love the exhortation to live life to the fullest, for the One who loves us first and most. I’ve jumped from the high dive, and the low-dive. My first jump from a low diving board came after three of us friends were nervous to make our first trek from the edge of the board. When I had to leave them for a few minutes, I came back to the pool, and they told me, “So-and-so jumped while you were gone.” Somehow, all my fear was gone and I jumped right off that scary thing. Afterward, they told me the other girl hadn’t jumped yet. I learned not to let others’ fear dictate my own. 🙂
Thanks for sharing that story, Jeanne. I smiled when I read how so-and-so jumped while you were gone. 🙂 I pray to become fearless in Christ jumping in where God calls me to.
JUMP! The water of life is perfect! 🙂
Yes, J.D. Let’s get in the water. Live life to the fullest. Make a big splash in a large way for the One who went first. Jesus.
Great analogy! I love this, Karen! Jesus did go first. His example is what we follow. To love, forgive, confess are often hard to do first, but the wise one will go forth anyway. It takes bravery to jump off a high dive, but just as so, to imitate Jesus in relationships. 🙂
Agree 100%, Marcie. The courage we need for a high-dive jump is on the same spiritual level as bravely imitating Jesus to others in every part of our life! Thank you for adding your thoughts!
The other day, when our family was at The Ark Encounter, there was this young boy who had decided he wanted to go on the park’s short free-fall jump. He was all safe, strapped in with cable, buckles, safety nets, etc., but once that boy got up there, he froze. There was a small crowd at the bottom, trying to cheer him on to jump, but he didn’t. He just freaked out once he saw the jump from up there! For several minutes we all stood, wondering if he’d do it. The ride managers were up there with the boy, and waved at all of us to continue to encourage the boy. We did! We did countdowns, cheers, clapping, etc. Finally, after what seemed like forever, on one of our countdowns, he jumped! It literally lasted just a few seconds and wasn’t as bad as he thought. He survived! All this to say is sometimes, when we’re afraid to “jump all in,” the Body of Christ can be our cheerleaders, and with our brothers and sisters’ encouragement, we jump. Heaven knows there are times when that is exactly what we need to be able to jump all in – we need each other! Faith was never meant to be a ‘solo’ thing, as we are all members of One Body. Thanks for a great post – let’s JUMP in, my friend! You first 😉
Hey Lisa, I didn’t know The Ark Encounter had stuff like a free-fall. But what a great point of how the body of Christ can cheer for us to jump all in for the Lord! We were never meant to do life alone or the Christian journey! Yes, let’s spur each other on to big splashes for Jesus! Thanks for contributing to the conversation!
Taking that first jump can be tough, but once we do it, it’s exhilarating. Here’s to jumping for Jesus again and again.
Yes, Jessica! I pray we jump again and again, living life to the fullest for the One who went first!
YES! Time to get BOLD! x
Amen! Bold and sold-out for Christ.
Yep, let’s get right on in, let’s not be afraid or make excuses or worry about what others are thinking.
Love this, Karen …
Thanks so much, Linda! Amen, let’s not worry about those pool-side gawkers of the world hoping we never jump into God’s purposes for our life!
Oh boy, do I remember diving boards, childhood, and overcoming fear! Great example to lead us to think about the One who went first in all things of God and enables us to follow. Loved this, Karen. So beautifully shared!
Appreciate your comment and kind words, Pam. “Lord, drown out the lies of fear from the enemy, and help us jump in and live sold-out for You and You alone! Amen.”
So many great memories for me….the summer days spent at the pool. Pools that actually had high diving boards:) And I love the application and the reminder that Jesus went first. He not only gave us an example but He is also our greatest encourager – to follow Him and His example. Thanks for your post!
Hey Jennifer, I remember wondering if I’d ever even attempt the high dive, much less, win the battle over my fear. Glad Jesus set the example for us to be victors through His strength. Thanks for commenting.
It is always hard to get out of the comfort zone and step out. Once again, we have a great example on Jesus, He was first and HE was bold! Great post!
Those comfort zones have a way of keeping a firm grip on us, Carolina. Yet, when we break free in Christ, step out and step into the water (the life plans God has for us), the rewards are worth celebrating!
[…] I noted in my blog post last week, 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved […]
I love this, Karen. We just need to jump, however we can because Jesus, our Lord and Savior set the example. He gives us the confidence and courage that we need, if only we’ll let Him.
Yes, He does, Wendy! Our security and bravery is found in Jesus to walk out on the high dives of life and not let them intimadate us. Let’s make those big spiritual splashes hoping those nearby see and feel the living water of Christ.
I love your last line, Karen! “But, by all means, get in the water. Live life to the fullest. Make a big splash in a large way for the One who went first. Jesus.” Yes and amen! Thanks for linking up with Grace and Truth this week.
Thank you, Heather. “Lord, help us live a full life in You. Help us brave the high dives of life. And give us the desire to make those big splashes in Your name. Then the whole world will see the true One who went first. Amen.”
Great analogy!
(And I can relate to a fear of heights!)
Thanks, Ava. We may have a fear of heights, but may we always soar to new heights with Christ!
Karen, I think what I take from your diving board story, at least at this point in my life, is that the style or execution of your jump wasn’t what mattered … it was the fact that you took that leap. Sometimes, there’s victory in just getting in the water. I’m so thankful Jesus always goes first.
I like that, Lois. It isn’t about the execution but about taking the leap for Jesus! Thanks for sharing your insight!