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This week’s message centers on Mark 6:50: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” These are the words of Jesus to his disciples who were rowing against the wind in the middle of a lake. It was about three o’clock in the morning, and they thought Jesus, walking on the lake towards them, to be a ghost. Read Mark 6:45-52, and you will see how Mark describes their astonishment. Verses 51-52: “Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed…” It was an amazement that came from experiencing Christ as the God who rules over heaven and earth.
The Gospel of Matthew recounts the same events but tells us more about the disciple Peter. From Matthew 14:22-33, Peter says courageously, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” (verse 28). Then he steps off the boat and walks onto the surface of the water towards Jesus. If what the Bible says is true, then Peter is the world’s first mortal to walk on water. But then Peter looked at the wind and, growing fearful, began to sink. “Lord, save me!” he cried out.
What do you look at as you walk this journey of life? We should each ask ourselves that. Am I looking at fear, or at hope, as I live? These two roads branch before us. And like he did with Peter, Jesus extends his loving hand to us; are we looking at Him as we live? Or at the wind and waves?
In life, there will always be wind and waves that assail us. Yet we believe that God pours out his love on us. May we, like the disciples, respond to Jesus with worship and say, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).
