Devotion 8.14.17

When you are at camp, watching teenagers 24/7, you are exhausted after one day.  The problem is there are six days to camp.  By days 4, 5, and 6, you are dead tired.  I found myself so tired that by Wednesday evening I fell asleep as the HS boys played music and challenged each other to manly feats of strength around 11 p.m. at night.

In Matthew 14, we see Christ exhausted (good to know that the Son of God himself gets exhausted physically).  He's learned his cousin John is dead, executed by Herod as a favor to his wife.  Jesus withdraws in a boat as a retreat, but the crowds follow Him anyway. As a result, Christ "had compassion on them and healed their sick."  The disciples tell Christ the land is desolate the crowds need to leave them alone and go find food for themselves.  Christ, however, says no, and feeds the five thousand from five loaves and two fish. 

By evening, the crowd is sent away and Christ sends the disciples to the other side of the lake (sea) in a boat.  He stays back and prays.  Christ had to be physically exhausted and emotionally drained at the loss of John the Baptist.  Yet He rises and goes to join the disciples in the boat far off of land by this point.  The disciples are in the boat rocked by waves and see what they believe to be a ghost. In reality, it is Christ walking on the sea to them (walking on the water).  Christ says, "Take heart; it is I.  Do not be afraid." Peter asks for Christ to command him to come out onto the water as well to which Christ says, "Come."  Peter begins to walk on the water toward Christ, and upon looking down at the water, begins to sink.  Christ asks Peter why he doubted, reaches down, and pulls him up, taking him to the boat.

It's good to know that on a day where He is physically tired, Christ still has the strength to pull Peter out of the fix he is in, sinking into the water.  That should reassure us, even tired counselors at camp, that Christ is there for us too, never too tired to reach down and pull us up from the fix we find ourselves in. 

We pray a prayer of thanksgiving that Christ is there to pull us from our situation, to literally save us from ourselves.

Hope Men's Ministry
Sermon 8.13.17 - Pastor Eric Hiner