Daily Devotional

What’s the last thing you argued or disagreed about with someone at home? Just between us, let’s admit something...families can be challenging. Actually, since I’m telling it like it is...people can be challenging. The people we love most can really get under our skin. Sometimes those relationships can even feel like more than we can handle. Yet, we still need them.

In the biblical story from above, Jesus is doing just fine on his OWN. He’s traveling and teaching and gathering large crowds togehter. But then He jumps into Simon’s boat and steps behind the wheel—or sail, or oars, or whatever...to offer advice to the seasoned fisherman and two really important things happen when Simon decides to take Jesus’ advice: 1) Reassurance and 2) Reconnection.

As Simon starts to get anxious, he gets inside his own head. And suddenly, he’s not thinking about the boat and everyone’s safety anymore. He’s thinking about his own failures—he feels exposed. And he starts to push Jesus away. But Jesus doesn’t leave Simon alone in his fear and anxiety. He reassures him that he has nothing to fear. Then he reconnects Simon with himself and others.

Jesus is giving Peter a new vision for how Jesus, and what will one day become the church, are going to work together. Jesus is forming a circle of people for Peter to take on a journey of a new identity, a new way of interacting, and a new perspective on old traditions. You can see throughout the Gospels and the Book of Acts that this circle grows and grows, becoming like a family for all of us as Jesus’ followers.

Yes, the people we love most can really get under our skin sometimes. But when the boat starts to wobble and everything tells us to push others away, that’s when Jesus offers us another way. Instead of pushing or pulling away, we can reach out and connect.

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."