Congratulations on making it to day three of reading through the New Testament. I hope it is a special experience for you as you reflect, research, review, remember and respond to God’s Word on a daily baisis.

Today’s reading is Matthew 13:36-19:30. I had a hard time making through the readings today. I got stuck on Matthew 14:22-33–the story of Peter trying to walk on the water with Jesus.

We usually point to this story as a picture of Peter’s failure–his lack of faith. Jesus invited Peter to walk on the water. Peter tried, saw the big waves, lost his faith and sunk. Isn’t that generally how we summarize this story?

But remember something. That boat was full of disciples, perhaps as many as 12. One and only one had the faith to get out of the boat and try to walk on the water with Jesus. So who was the bigger failure–the one who tried and sunk or the others who never tried? We have a God who is going to call us to step out of the boat–to really stretch ourselves. When we take Him up on that invitation, we might sink. We can’t let the fear of sinking keep us from accepting the invitation. Why not? Well, that brings us to the crux of the story, vs 31:

“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”

That is what Jesus does. He saves. More than Teacher, more than Friend, more than Example, more than Provider, more than King, more than Judge, Jesus is Savior. He is always and forever strecthing out His hand to save. He can call us imperfect, weak-faithed humans to step out of the boat and trust Him precisely because He has the power to save us when we sink.

And don’t miss the Good Friday implications of that verse. This points us to that time, when once and for all time, Jesus would stretch out His hands, on a Cross. Why? To save us. That is what He does.

What Biblical truths does God show us in these verses?
Jesus calls His people to step outside of our own abilities and limitations and do what we can do only with His strength. There are times we will sink. This is why we have a Savior–one who will stretch out His hands and save us.

Since God tells us in the book of James to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers, how can I apply these Biblical truths to my life?
Today I will look for opportunties to be used by God in areas that are a stretch for me. I will do that, knowing that should I sink, Jesus will save.