1-10-2018

Good Morning All,

         Matthew 14:29; “He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.”

     Are you one of those people who have a set routine?  Perhaps you read the newspaper the same way every day.  You drink the same kind of coffee every day.  When you go somewhere you take the same route.  Perhaps your meals have the same combinations like hamburger and french fries but never hash browns.   We all have routines that we follow.  Some occur because it is the easiest way to accomplish our task.  Some occur because of other factors weighing in.  We may have a morning routine that meshes with our spouse and children.  Yet often times it is just the comfort of the routine and the fact that it takes some thought and some energy to change.

    So how comfortable are you with change?  A new hair style or a new restaurant, a change in our job or maybe even a whole new occupation, a new home; for many thoughts of these will keep us up at night.  We are creatures of habit and that can be both good and bad.  It can be very challenging to change but sometimes; change is what is needed.

    Often times we become so comfortable with our life that the devil uses it to make us complacent in our faith life.  We are comfortable where we are.  We might put money in the collection plate once in a while but the amount or frequency hasn’t changed in 10 years.  We read the Bible once in a while but not regularly.  We pray; when we are desperate enough.  This has become our routine and we are comfortable in this rut and the devil tells us we are just fine.

    Yet one of the most remarkable things that Christ does to us is to shake us from our comfortable routine.  He takes us from our complacent life in this sinful world; a life that lets us just skirt along and he changes it and he challenges us.  He takes us as we are broken, sinful beings and changes us into new creations.  He makes us his holy people and then gives to us the power and the authority to bring his kingdom to the world.  Then he looks at us, at our complacent lives, and says, “Come, get out of the boat and come.”

    Now Peter was in a boat on stormy lake late at night.  He got out of the boat.  The Lord called to him and he got out of the boat.  He didn’t last long, this time, but he got out of the boat.  Later in his life, Peter changed from his original routine.  At the start of the gospels, Peter is brash, hotheaded and often speaks long before he thinks.  Yet in his later life, Peter is the apostle of love, patience and hope.  He changed because he was changed.  He truly “got out of the boat.” 

   What about you?  Will you get out of your boat?  Will you step up and live the life that Christ has given you?  Maybe you can volunteer some time at a food bank or a homeless shelter.  Maybe you can mentor a neighbor child who is alone far too much of the time.  What about you, will you get out of your boat?

Father, make me uncomfortable at the sight of pain and brokenness around me.  Break my heart as yours breaks at the pain of your creation.  Move me to get out of my complacent life and be a force of change for you.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret