Peter is one of my favorite Bible characters. I idenitify with him because he was passionate and very human. But, most of all, I admire his willingness to grow in grace and let the Holy Spirit transform him to a mature man of God. Let’s see how Peter can help us to take the first steps towards (re)making Jesus Christ the center of our lives.

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:25-33)

Peter was the first one to step out of the boat and walking in faith on the water toward Jesus. He was doing just great until he looked elsewhere. When he lost his focus on Jesus, he became full of doubts and started to sink. Blessedly Jesus was right there for him to reach out and catch him.

As we look for Jesus Christ to be our guide in life we are doing great. The Holy Spirit invites us to God and guides our steps in faith if we just keep on looking to Christ for our answers. If we focus on God we won’t sink. If we focus on God we will walk in faith. But the moment we start looking elsewhere for answers we start sinking in. The moment we start doubting, we will loose our focus on God. If we focus on our doubts, on our sins, on our weaknesses, on our selves, we will sink in. Our first step towards God and (re)making Jesus Christ the center of our lives is to keep on focusing on Christ and opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit to work in us. Let’s focus on God and listen what he is saying to us. “Take a courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Gracious God,
We come to you in praise and awe.
Christ truly is the son of God!
Thank you for showing us the way to you in Jesus.
Help us to focus solely on you.
Save us!
Guide us!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: What does help you to focus on God?
The part 2 will be posted tomorrow on the 29th of December.