Sunday Devotional

Max isn’t built for swimming. With his long, barrel-like body and short, stumpy legs, he’s like log set adrift on the waves, even when I support him with my hand firm under his belly. But he absolutely cannot stand when we are in the pool and he isn’t. So he sits on the dock and whines, every once in while dipping his paw in the water and drawing it back out.

I tried to get him to jump in one day, when everyone else was splashing around. He came oh, so close, but backed out at the last minute. Frustrated, he laid his head down and just stared at the rest of us, out there having fun without him.

So it is with the Lord. He beckons to us, urging us to join Him where He is. And we sit on the dock, watching as others who have found the courage to trust Him have fun without us. Can it be that we are so foolish as to not believe that the One who created heaven and earth also has the power to keep us from sinking? Is it really that we have not learned to fully trust Him?

If the miracles of God’s love and care are not enough to draw us the Lord, what would it take, I wonder, to get us to finally take the plunge?

Matthew 14:25-32 (New International Version)

25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.