Bible students are familiar with the time when Jesus walked on water. What we sometimes fail to remember is that Peter walked on water as well. The scene of them walking on the water can be found in Matthew 14:22-33.
Once Peter realized that the figure they saw on the water was Jesus, it emboldened him to want to go out to Him. He said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (ver. 28).
Peter’s desire to go out to Jesus on the water demonstrated both courage and faith. The storm had not yet subsided, still, Peter was willing to step out of the boat and walk on the water. After a few steps, however, he began to sink. Why? The text tells us.
Matthew 14:30 (ESV)
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”
Peter got distracted. He took his eyes off Jesus and began to focus on the events around him. Once the sounds of the howling winds and the turbulent waves got inside his head, he began to sink. Fortunately, Jesus was there to save him when he cried out and brought him safely onto the boat.
This event in the life of Peter is a good reminder for us to always keep our focus on Christ. Like Peter, when we take our eyes off Jesus, we begin to sink spiritually. Many Christians have fallen from grace because they have allowed the material things of this world to distract them. Jesus warned us about this in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:21-24 (KJV)
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Mammon refers to wealth personified and the things it can buy. Jesus’ reference to the “eye” refers to the mind, and when our minds are filled with the desire for material things, we are distracted from what is really important—serving God and holding fast to eternal life. Do not be double-minded. James warns us of the consequences of being so.
James 1:8 (KJV)
8 A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
There are other things besides wealth, and the pursuit of it, that can take our eyes off Jesus. Family can do it. So can our occupations. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus, trusting Him in all things, and the tempestuous storms of life will not cause us to sink.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things.