Whatever It Takes, I Must Get to Jesus
Mt. 14:24-29
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
We are looking at a very familiar passage of scripture this morning. I’ve preached from these verses many times before, but not in the thought God placed in my heart for this morning.
We have to understand what is going on here. First of all, at the beginning of this chapter, the disciples had collected the body of John to bury him. After this, Jesus went away into the desert and the disciples followed him. While there, Jesus healed many sick among them.
When evening came, the disciples told Jesus the crowd needed to be sent away to get food, but Jesus instructed them to let them stay. He took the lunch of 5 loaves & 2 fish to feed the multitude leaving 12 baskets of leftovers.
Afterwards, Jesus sends the disciples away while he goes up into a mountain to pray alone.
This is where we pick up in our reading this morning.
I. Peter determined that regardless of what people think, he had to get to Jesus
It goes without saying, his fellow disciples were unsure of his decision to leave the safety of the boat.
They just thought they had seen a spirit.
The storm was enough to kill anyone.
People cannot walk on water.
They would have thought he was crazy for stepping out of the boat.
We must not be concerned with what others think about us as we endeavor to grow closer in our relationship with Christ.
We cannot be concerned with what they think about us as we grow closer to Christ. Some will think we are crazy. Some will think we are too charismatic. Some will think we are extreme - it cannot matter. We must get to Jesus.
II. Peter determined that regardless of how rough it was, he had to get to Jesus
The storm had the water very tumultuous. The wind was howling. Jesus was in one spot; Peter in another. He had to determine he wasn’t going to worry about how rough it was, he just had to get to Jesus.
The bible teaches us that “many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
Anyone that says getting closer in our walk with God will be easy lied.
There are challenges, obstacles and troubles that are always around us to deter us from growing in our walk. We must be determined that regardless of how rough it may be, we are getting to Jesus.
III. Peter determined he would rather leave his comfort zone to get to Jesus
Peter was at least somewhat safe in the boat. He had to decide to leave a comfortable area in his life to get to Jesus.
Sometimes, God calls us to leave our comfortable areas in life to get closer to Him.
We have to do things that are out of our norm. We have to do things that are out of the ordinary for us.
We are each called to tell others about Christ. We are called to lead people to God. Some people are backward - God tells us to step out of our comfort zone and tell someone about His love. Tell our testimony. Do something that we normally wouldn’t do because it makes us feel uncomfortable.
IV. Peter determined that, not matter what it may cost him, he had to get to Jesus
The move out of the boat could cost him his life - he didn’t care. He had to get to Jesus.
We have to determine that if it costs us our job, we have to get closer to Jesus.
If it cost us relationships, we have to get closer to Jesus.
If it cost us absolutely everything, we have to get closer to Jesus.
