Walking on Water

Grandpa was always the comedian.  Never a dull moment and no dead air space when he was around.  The man had "the gift to gab", and he always put a smile on your face when his words spilled out of his.  One day, Grandpa got to telling stories...I have to confess...we egged him on. He rose to the challenge.

"We always used to go out to the creek." (Pronounced "crick" by grandpa.)  "I would jump in and swim...(insert pregnant pause here) like a Rock!"

Sometimes in life we swim like rocks!  We are going along...everything is fine until that sinking feeling comes over us, and we realize that we are drowning into the mess of life.  Peter knew about this all too well. Peter (whose name means "rock") had personal experience in "rock swimming".


 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.


 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”


 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”


 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter 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!”  Matthew 14:25-30

Just like Grandpa, Peter knew how to swim like a rock. When we read this passage we normally ask ourselves, "How did Peter walk on the water?" The better question is "What caused him to sink?"  It all started when he saw the wind. Peter took his eyes off Jesus, and then it was all over.  We can only "walk on water", overcome obstacles, and rise above it all when we keep our eyes on Jesus. Taking our focus off Christ changes everything...we sink instead of swim...we are defeated instead of delivered...we fear instead of moving forward.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2