CNV00183, originally uploaded by joyoung81.
This was taken in Alnwick Gardens, at the entrance to the Labyrinth, on our holiday and I love it.
What a quote – only dead fish swim with the stream! It reminds me of times when I get involved in dead end conversations at work where I’m tempted to have a moan or gossip about others. Sometimes it seems easier just to do what everyone else is doing yet you always feel a bit dirty and uncomfortable about it afterward. I want to be someone who is known for not saying unkind things about her colleagues, being slow to criticise and quick to praise.
In life, if you’re dead to what Jesus is doing within you and if you want to have your own way all the time, you will float along caught up in the stream of what the world is doing around you. It is almost laziness, letting the tide carry you on. You might have company but it will never be amazing. This is a common experience.
Yet if you entwine yourself in the source of new life, in Jesus, constantly having your mind renewed, you’ll find the strength to stand with integrity against the current. Through quiet devotional time, serving God and other people, your life can’t fail to change. You’ll find direction, satisfaction and purpose. Best of all, even if the world were to desert you, you would never be alone.
I don’t want to be dead fish lost in the labyrinth of life. I want the good shepherd to lead me, to provide me food and to bring me safely home.
