Skipping Stones
By Mike Rule

Time spent near the Great Lakes is precious to me because I grew up near Lake Superior. It is one of the most beautiful bodies of fresh water on the earth. As a kid I loved skipping stones whenever I would go to the lake. I spent countless hours finding flat round stones to see how many times I could get each one to skip across the water. Even today it is a habit to search for flat round stones while walking along the beach.

I recently spent time walking on the Lake Huron shoreline, listening and talking to the Lord. I found myself picking up every flat round stone I came across and skipping it across the smooth surface of Lake Huron. I had done this for quite a while before I even realized I was doing it. It just came naturally to me. As the Lord was speaking, He pointed out how skipping stones while walking on the beach was as natural to me as breathing. It would take more effort to not do it than to do it.

As He ministered to me on this, He showed me how He wants to flow in my life through what is natural to me. He doesn’t want me to be something I am not. He wants me to be what I am, while allowing Him to soften and mold me more into His likeness. He works through our natural desire – the new inborn desire we received from God.

"And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God." (Ezekiel 11:19-20 NASB)

Just as skipping stones comes naturally to me, the Christian life is natural to every believer in Jesus. Many would have us believe that walking in the flesh is natural to a believer, but it is not. Trust the Holy Spirit, listen to Him, and follow Him. If you do, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Following Him is as natural to you as skipping stones is to me.

Verse for Reflection

“You make it clear that you are a letter from the Messiah placed in our care, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on human hearts.” (2 Corinthian s 3:3)