Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

written on Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Scripture: St. Matthew 14:22-31
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray; and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
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.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Matthew 14:22-31

There is an old familiar hymn and the lyrics are:
I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore.
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more.
But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.
Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help, Love lifted me!

We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity living in a world of darkness, sinking under the weight of sin because satan is going to and fro seeking whom he may devour; he’s trying to kill us. Satan doesn’t want us to be set free and delivered, but instead wants us to remain hell-bound. But Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts through his living Word, the good news that Jesus saves, and those who take heed and accept him he saves from the penalty of sin. One day I turned my eyes upon Jesus and called on him and he heard my despairing cry. From the waters he lifted me. I couldn’t save myself. I couldn’t free myself from satan’s grip. But Jesus had mercy on me and rescued me. I made a decision to serve him.

Jesus saved many of us from all walks and manner of sinful lives. That is the greatest miracle – a changed life. Jesus is a heart fixer and a mind regulator. Some he reached way down to rescue, like the prodigal son in the pigpen. Peter was in trouble at sea and when he saw Jesus walking toward him on the water and beckoning for him to come to him, he stepped out on faith and started walking on the water. As long as Peter focused on getting to Jesus to save him, he could do the seemingly impossible. Jesus met us on our sea in the midst of our problem and said come to me. When we opened our hearts and looked to Jesus and stepped out on faith in his word, we walked on the water to Jesus. We took our minds off of our messed-up selves and looked to Jesus for help. We didn’t stay in our boat (our situations) to sink. We had to get to Jesus because we knew only he could save us…this was our only hope. And as we journey on this Christian walk, it is important to continually keep our eyes or our focus on Jesus by going to church worship services and bible studies (forsake not to assemble yourselves…), obeying God’s commandments applying it to our lives praising God and giving thanks always. Doors will open and God will bring us closer and closer to a peaceful shore.

But we must remember that when Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to focus on his surrounding situation, the sea, it overwhelmed him and he began to sink. No matter how long we have been saved, when faced with difficult tasks or situations of life, stop focusing on the situation. We must always keep our focus on Jesus and not on our circumstances because without Jesus our circumstances may overwhelm and overtake us. Moe hills will look like mountains. We must always look to Jesus, for in him we are overcomers. Do not take your eyes off Jesus. As long as our eyes are on Jesus, we are saying, Jesus, I need you. You are my help. I need you every day. I trust you to bring me through anything. You already did the greatest miracle for me by changing my heart. Now I trust you to keep me. Satan did not allow us to get to the point we are. If he could, he would have stopped us yesterday. But Jesus brought us this far. Satan’s tactic is to now get us to take our eyes off of our help and look at the problem. It is like he puts a magnifying glass on a small dot and blows it up so big in front of us that we think we cannot get around it.

Let’s keep our focus on Jesus and say, Lord, I can’t face this alone. Only you can deliver me. I will continue to trust you and obey you and I know that you will bring me through. Remember, if God brought us to it, he surely will bring us through it. Don’t waste time fretting. We didn’t bring ourselves this far, so why start wondering now how we will make it. Do not put limitations on God. Let us keep our minds open to go wherever the Lord leads us.