Walking on the lake ...

Monday, April 11, 2011. The bible is a fantastic book. It is good keeping reading in it. It will change our mind, the way we approach things, when we read a little bit of the New Testament and take it serious in the sense that we trust God. Living in faith makes things different!

Jesus on the lake …

Matthew 14 has fantastic stories to tell. We read today about some disciples who were fighting their way through with their little boat. Then something amazing happened.

22 Jesus made his followers get into the boat and cross the lake ahead of him while he sent the crowds away. 23 Once he had sent them on their way, he went on his own into the hills to pray, and he was there alone all evening. 24 The boat meanwhile was quite some distance from the shore but was making slow progress because the wind was against them.

25 In the middle of the night, Jesus went to them walking across the lake. 26 When his followers saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified: “It is a ghost” they cried out. 27 But straight away Jesus called to them: “Cheer up, it’s me, don’t be afraid.” 28 Peter then replied: “Master, if it’s really you, give me an order to come to you on the water”. 29 Jesus told him to come and so, stepping down out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became afraid. As he started to sink he called out: “Master, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out with his hand and grabbed him, saying “Why do you trust me so little? Why did you have those doubts?” 32 As they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 All of them in the boat bowed low before Jesus, saying: “You really are the Son of God!”

We are on the lake …

It is US in this story, who are in the boat. We are fighting our way through life. And often the wind is against us and we do “slow progress”. Of course, the story is first about the disciples. It is a story which happened 2000 years ago. Some people think it is just some story, but I believe that it happened. It happened to tell the disciples much about life and God, and to teach all of us, to change the way we do things.

In the story, it is faith that enables Pete to walk on the water. As soon as he doubts, he sinks. But still then, Jesus is holding him, he reaches out and grabbed him. He helps him to get back into the boat.

It is an encouraging story. We might try to walk in faith. Definitely, we will experience amazing things! But even if we fail, we can still rely on Jesus to grab our hand and to help us through. In the story, the wind stopped. In our life, the wind will stop as well. But Jesus will remain! ... more texts