DEVOTION – FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2012
Holy Land Devotional
(A view from the boat on the Sea of Galilee)
Who is this?
By Emil Winkelspect, Trinity UMC, Clayton NJ
Read Mark 4:35-41
"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" ~ NIV
Our boat trip across the Sea of Galilee was almost cancelled because the sea was so choppy. The dark clouds, wind, waves and rain really brought this Scripture passage to life. We had lunch in a restaurant on the far shore and by the time we came out the sun was shining. It was easy to see how quickly sudden squalls could blow in across the sea. In our lives, sudden squalls sometimes blow in and we like Jesus’ first disciples respond, “[Lord}, don't you care if we drown?” Why do we do this? Because we so quickly forget who this is. Not only is He the Creator who can make the wind and waves obey Him; He is also the One who cares for us enough to come among us, suffer and die for us that the relationship we were created to have with Him might be ours. Repeatedly, in the book of Ezekiel, we hear the words, “…then they will know that I am the Lord.” God wants us to know Him, and He reveals Himself perfectly to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Are you seeking to know God so that it doesn’t even enter your mind that He doesn’t care?
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