Jesus Walks on Water

Passage Matthew 14:22-36

verses: Matthew 14:29-30

"'Come' he said.  Then pete got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out,'Lord, save me!'"

What strikes me here the most is the very first word.  "Come"

Jesus invites Peter to do the impossible, to walk on water, to do something extreme.  Peter even says before this "IF, it is you". Peter isn't even sure if this is legit yet he has the faith to try. What I really find interesting is the fact that Jesus knows that Peter will see the wind, he knows he will begin to sink, but he still says Come. This is like our walk with Christ, when we began, Jesus said Come and we got down onto the water and began our journey towards him, but trials come and faith is often lost. Jesus choose to say come to help him discover this weakness in his life.  Sometimes the hardest times in life and trials we go through are just times God wants us to take a deeper look and find out why this is happening.  For Peter this showed his lack of faith and gave him a deeper understanding of the true meaning of beings a disciple of Christ.

The next things that hits me is the word "saw".  Peter's sight was lost.  He wasn't focusing on the finish line, the arms of Jesus, but his thoughts and sight were wandering and that is when he saw the wind.  His senses got the best of him and he lost faith in the goal.  In our life, we take our sights off Christ and we begin to see the things of the world that cause us to doubt and sin. 

Because of his lack of faith and turning away from Christ, Peter begins to sink. What is peter's first reaction? It is to call out to Christ.  Isn't it often that when trials come that is the time we call out to God, when in reality we should be calling out to God the entire time.  How does the story end? Christ, reaches out his hand and saves Peter.  In this way, Christ saves us whenever we cry out to him.  

Lord,

Help me to keep my sights on you.  I don't want to lose the faith like Peter did.  Thank you for always being there to lend me your hand when the winds of my life take hold.  You are so loving like that. Help me to have a strong faith in your power.  You show us here how you can do the impossible.  I pray that this story will stick in my head throughout my life.