Extreme water walking

I love the story in Matthew 14 of Peter walking on water. I think John Ortberg recaps that story best in his book, If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat. One of the things that Ortberg stresses is that this is not a story about extreme risk-taking. It’s actually a story about extreme obedience. Here is what John writes:
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“Matthew is not glorifying risk-taking for its own sake.  Jesus is not looking for bungee jumping, hang-gliding, day-trading, tornado-chasing Pinto drivers.  Water-walking is not something Peter does for recreational purposes.  This is not a story about extreme sports.  It’s about extreme discipleship.  This means that before Peter gets out of his boat, he had better make sure Jesus thinks it’s a good idea.”

That is exactly what Peter does. He asks, “If it is you, Lord, command me to come to you.” Jesus responds with one word…“COME!” That’s all Peter needed. His stepping out of the boat into a raging sea in the middle of a severe storm was an act of obedience to the one word command of God. So if you’re going to walk on water, you must exhibit extreme obedience. You must seek God to discern His will for your life and then follow whatever it is no matter what storm it leads you into.