“Shortly after 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!'”
“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?'”
(Matthew 14:25-31).
It was a cold morning. There was a mist rising from the lake as the sun’s rays began shining its light on the dark waters. The disciples were barely awake when they saw something that shouldn’t be…There was a human figure walking on the lake.
The disciples didn’t know how to make sense of what they were seeing. They screamed out, “It’s a ghost!”
Jesus tells them that it is he. Peter asks, if it really is Jesus, to walk to Jesus on the water and Jesus tells him to come.
For the first time in all of human history, when Peter stepped out of the boat, instead of his feet sinking he hit solid water! Yeah. You read that right. Solid water!
Just like solid ground, the water sustained his weight. He was walking on water!
But, as soon as Peter took his eyes off Jesus, Peter began to sink.
You see, the devil doesn’t have to defeat us to defeat us. All he has to do is to distract us. The moment we take our eyes off Jesus, we are sunk. We are defeated.
Keep your eyes on Jesus.
I know. Particularly this time of the year there are a whole lot of distractions. There are all kinds of shiny toys and fancy clothes. It doesn’t take much to distract us.
Keep your eyes on Jesus. Stay focused. Remember who you are because of who Jesus is.
Keep your eyes on Jesus.
