Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”
So He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.
But when he saw the strong wind, he became afraid and started to sink; he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:28-30
There’s a strong message in this passage; keep your eyes on Jesus! How does that play out in our daily lives? Sometimes we know what’s ahead because God has laid out His plan for us. Other times, we don’t have a clue what’s coming; most days are like the latter.
When we are walking closely with Jesus, we keep our eyes on him. He illuminates the next steps as they come. If He unloaded the knowledge of everything to come, we would be overwhelmed and paralyzed. Walking with Jesus requires faith that He knows the path ahead, and He alone has prepared it for us.
When I keep my eyes on Him, step-by-step, I am proverbially walking on water. When I try to rush ahead and figure out where we are going next in my own strength, I begin to sink. This is a faith walk that is contrary to our human nature, but oh, so necessary to walking with Jesus.
Literally walking on water is not my goal. Keeping my eyes on Jesus is the whole point. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurancethe race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
(Image Credit: ID 287578044 © Rik Trottier | Dreamstime.com)
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