Last week we saw where Jesus called his disciples. There were 12 of them but we focused on Peter, Andrew, James and John. Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee one day and saw these guys – he told them to come follow him. They were fishermen and Jesus wanted to show them that he not only could help them catch fish, but that he would teach them how to catch men. As he went out to fish with Peter, he told him to drop his nets in the same area that he had the night before and he would catch fish. Peter doubted as he had fished all night the night before in the same place and didn’t catch any fish. Peter finally did as Jesus told him and he caught so many fish he could barely get them in the boat. He asked Jesus to forgive him and believed and followed Jesus. This week we talked about what miracles are – things that Jesus did that were unbelievable and there was no way to explain how they happened other than God/Jesus made it happen. We saw where Jesus and Peter literally walked on water. Jesus had told the disciples to go to the other side of the lake while he took some time alone to pray. They hopped on the boat and the wind started blowing hard and the waves got big, rocking the boat, carrying them to the other side way quicker that Jesus anticipated. He needed to get to them and to teach them a lesson in how he got to them. As they looked out from the boat they saw something walking toward them and some of them thought it was a ghost – they were afraid. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, it is I.” Peter said, “Jesus, if it’s really you, tell me to walk to you on the water.” “Come.” Jesus said with His hand reaching out to him. The disciples watched as Peter carefully got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. Peter watched Jesus at first, but then started noticing the wind and the waves on the water and looked around with worry. As soon as Peter started to be scared and took his eyes off Jesus he started to sink, and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him before he was totally covered with water. “You have such little faith in me Peter,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” Peter walked to the boat with Jesus by His side and wondered to himself why he got so afraid. He knew that Jesus could do anything, it seemed that as soon as he took his eyes off Jesus he started to think about other things and that is when he began to sink. As soon as Jesus got into the boat the wind stopped and the water was calm. Then everyone in the boat worshiped Jesus saying, “Truly you are God’s Son!” We talked about what we need to do when we are afraid – keep our eyes on Jesus and ask him to keep us safe – and He will. Next month we will continue with more of Jesus’ miracles and our new bible verse will be: Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27.
