Right then, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side of the lake while he dismissed the crowds. When he sent them away, he went up onto a mountain by himself to pray. Evening came and he was alone. Meanwhile, the boat, fighting a strong headwind, was being battered by the waves and was already far away from land. Very early in the morning he came to his disciples, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” They were so frightened they screamed. Just then Jesus spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” Peter replied, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus said, “Come.” Then Peter got out of the boat and was walking on the water toward Jesus. But when Peter saw the strong wind, he became frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, rescue me!” Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him, saying, “You man of weak faith! Why did you begin to have doubts?” When they got into the boat, the wind settled down. Then those in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “You must be God’s Son!” (Matthew 14:22-33, CEB)
We all give Peter a hard time for sinking in the water, but would you have asked Jesus to call you out and step out of the boat?
If you want to walk on water, you have to step out of the boat. This is not a moment for hesitation. One of the best lines in a movie is from National Treasure, the Declaration of Independence was just stollen and the FBI is talking about it and on of the agents says, “Uhm.” To which the head agent says, “This is not a day for uhms.” The first agent says, “We got a tip last week that the Declaration was going to be stolen.” The head agent says, “What is the name of the tipster?” The first agent responds, “We don’t know the name a file wasn’t opened because we didn’t find the information credible.” The head agent says, “How about now?” We all hesitate in life. We get hung up on what we think we understand and what we believe and we let it taint our understandings.
But would you have stepped out of the boat?
We can do anything through Christ who gives us strength, and yes that verse is used out of context all the time, but if Jesus calls you out of the boat, if you remain focused you will walk on water. When we look at us instead of Jesus we falter.
Focus on Jesus, and love like he loves you.
Loving People. Loving God.
aSacredRebel 