Good morning church. It is good to be with you guys this morning, and I'm so glad that I get a chance just to share with you. But today is a special day that we're gonna start out the service. It is a time that we wanna focus just a moment of prayer towards this time of year about sanctity of life. Now I want you guys to understand sanc of life is not, it's so much more than just a once a year kind of thing, or a talking point or a time that we just kind of take like a one time praying point thing. There's so much more to this. It's a biblical talking point. It's not something we just bring up because of, we want to talk about it, but it is truly something that God's word is very strong on. And here at Burnt Hickory, I want you to understand that man, we truly value life.
We value life. We think it is important. We find worth and value in all of humanity from conception all the way to the grave. And this week I had the opportunity to read a quote and I, and I wanna read this quote to you guys that I, that I read. It says this, every human life is precious. Unborn life is precious. Children with special needs are precious. Aging parents are precious. Even when they don't remember because they're suffering dementia. They, they're still made in the image of God, children or parents who are nonverbal. Those in wheelchairs and those who are completely dependent upon you or doctors are precious because all of life matters to God. See, I want you to understand we matter to God, which is why this is such an important thing for us. Just to take a moment and just to praise the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord over Psalms one 19 verses 13 through 16 says this, it says, you were formed my inward parts.
You knitted me together in my mother's wombs. And I praise you for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance in your body. Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Hey, I wanna take a moment just to pray with you, to celebrate the fact that we serve a King, that we matter to, that life matters to. So let's just take a moment and let's just pray together. Father, we do thank you for today. God, we thank you for the opportunity that you give us just to come into your house, to sing of all the wonderful names, to praise your glorious name, God, to find our hope and our joy, and you as our King and as our Savior.
God, I pray that today, that today would be a day that we truly just stand on the word of truth and God, that we celebrate the fact that there is life from conception all the way to the grave. And we matter that you created as you formed us, and that God, that you were King over all these things. So God bless this day, I pray. May you be glorified. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. So as you've probably already noticed, I'm not Matt the senior pastor. I am Chip, the student pastor here. Got the call. You know that over the past couple weeks, Matt hasn't felt great. He's, he's kind of been pushing through and he is done a great job starting out and, and working through this book of John last week he, he just kind of hit him and he went and feeling real good.
And so I got the call on Friday saying, Hey, I need you to take the stage, which I knew at that point in time, Matt must be really sick if he's gonna give up the stage because I dunno about you. But as a communicator anytime we get a chance to hit the stage it is a blessing. We love it. We look forward to it. And so I thought, man, he must not feel well at all if he's going to give up the stage on Friday especially in the middle of a series or a middle of that kind of stuff. At the same time we've been praying for him. So I'm gonna ask you to continue to pray for him that he would get to feeling better and that that he'll just his lungs will be healed and things of that that he's kind of struggling with a little bit right now.
 At the same time, he was kind of feeling better on Saturday. Now I was afraid he was gonna yank it back from me. So praise the Lord for that as well. But I am honored to get the opportunity to, to share with you guys this morning. We are gonna step out of the book of John first this morning, though. We're not gonna continue to dig into that series. I'll let him continue that as he comes back next week. But I am gonna build off of something that he landed with last week. If you follow along with us in the notes and you see you'll see there are certain notes and, and ways to fill in the blank. My wife and I have this little game that we play on Sundays. It's trying to figure out what the next like blank is.
Fill it in. We don't like, we cheat. We you like some of you guys in here, you're like looking back at the back screen to go ahead and fill in all the blanks. Now my wife and I are like, we're guessing like, what's the next one? We're trying to fill it in the blanks. So that's kinda like our game. I'm a DD so I have to have something to keep me focused and it works great for me. But we kind of do that. The last point though of last week was this point that I'm gonna talk about this morning, which is literally what is it going to take for you to fully follow Jesus? That was kind of the walkaway point that pastor Matt kind of left us with last week. And so I thought, what a better way to just to kind of build off of that a little bit this week and to kind of dig into a little bit of what does it really look like?
What does it look like to fully follow Jesus, not just to kind of look at it from a distance, but in a culture that we live in today that where it gets harder and harder for us to do that, it is harder and harder for, for people just to be honest. It is harder and harder for people to stand firm in the midst of all the, the opposition and the, the constant war against us than when we try to stand for our faith. It is difficult for us because there's all these opposing views. There's these political views, these faith things, these ideologies, these creeds or really anything out there that is constantly just kind of claiming and fighting against us at times to stand up for the word of God. And it's, it's just a difficult times sometimes and I get it. And so because of that, sometimes it just comes across as a lot easier for some of us just to sit back to mind our own business, to shut our mouth and just really just move along about our day, right?
Like for some of us, that's kind of where we land and, and our, and our walk we're kind of like, Hey, it's, it's, it's really a difficult battle. Like that person's doing okay without me going over there and talking to them. That person is doing okay if I don't really share my faith with them. They looks like they're okay, looks like they're healthy, all that's kind of good. But as a follower of Christ, what I've learned is this, that all those, sometimes that is my response and all those, sometimes that is the easier way out so that I don't step into a moment of maybe some conflict or some opposition or something coming against me. I need you to understand that is not what it is that we have been called to do as a follower of Christ, right? Right. We were not called to be quiet.
We were not called to sit back. We were called to fully follow Jesus. But there are moments in my life that I do feel like Jonah, that even though I understand that it is a very barbaric nation ahead of me that I have been called to go and to share the gospel with. There are moments in my life that I just want to jump ship and head the other way. Yes sir. There's a lot of times that I may be sitting there listening to the conversations like, it's not part of my conversation. I'm just gonna go get my coffee. I'm gonna go do my thing. I'm gonna put my AirPods in and I'm just gonna focus on what I need to focus on. And just like Jonah who did that, when it came to that barbaric nation of Nineveh, he jumps in the ship and goes to the opposite direction.
Many of us do the same thing. But what does God do to Jonah? He then later gets a hold of him and spits him right back out on the land. I think there's times in our life that we need that ourself. But the reality is this, that if you're going to call yourself a follower of Christ, if you're going to say that I've surrendered my life to Jesus. And if you're going to jump in and fully follow Jesus, then you need to understand there's a call that's been placed on your life. Come on now. There's a calling that we find in Matthew chapter nine in verse 8 37 through 38. Jesus is saying this to his disciples, is the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord for the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. See if we read that verse, when I read verses many times, I kind of need a moment to paraphrase it in my brain to kind of work it out.
I have these moments where I've gotta gotta kind of rephrase it for myself. And so when I rephrase this verse and I look at it, what I hear in this verse is this, there are people waiting to hear the gospel. There are people that are hungry for the gospel. There are people that are in need of Jesus. There are people that need to know that there is a Jesus that died for them and has given this life for them and has brought victory over death for them. But however, there are a lot of followers that aren't telling them, yes sir, there's a lot of Christians who would rather just go on about their day. So we need to start praying earnestly that followers of Christ would start following Jesus. That they would start stepping out and doing exactly what God has called them to do.
But many times we're just too afraid to fully follow Jesus. Maybe it's because we can't physically see him. Maybe it's because our faith has not drawn us to that area. But today I want you to understand that God has called you not to just follow God from a distance. See, a lot of us have this misperception of what it means to follow. I think in order for us to ever get to what it means to fully follow, we need to understand what God is calling us to. How to follow. See, a lot of us will show up on a Sunday. We'll show up on a Wednesday and we say, I'm following Jesus. And from a distance we are because the world has created this mindset of what it means to follow. I can follow someone on social media and they never know I can be one of their thousand, 2000 followers and really not have a relationship with them.
I can even see what's going on in their life and what's what's happening. I can follow people throughout this world and really it not make an impact on my life. But the type of following that Jesus is calling you and I too is a following that radically changes who we are. There is a Hebrew phrase that was used many time amongst the nations and amongst the rabbis in this time, which would've been a very similar phrase that Jesus would've probably used or or insinuated. And it was this Hebrew phrase that was hava miba. Before that phrase, you're like, I don't have a clue what that means, but let me tell you what it means. It means this. It means that you were to follow the rabbi in such a way that you cover yourself in the dust of his feet. Wow. That you powder your face.
Now women, I understand you understand powdering, you understand putting something on to cover you. We are called to follow in such a way that we are so close, not from a distance but so close, that literally we are covered with the dust of his feet. Now, if any, if you've ever rode a four wheeler on a dirt road, you understand exactly what I'm talking about to be covered in dust. Yes sir. Right? You understand this because if you follow from a distance, the dust never gets on you and you're fine. But if you're really trying to catch your friend or pass your friend and you're right up on 'em, that dust is covering you, it is all over you. And the only thing that's still like clean on you is hopefully your teeth. 'cause You didn't, you didn't smile or whatever. And maybe they're dirty, I don't know.
But you are co, if you are up close to 'em, you are covered in that dust in the same way that is the following, that Jesus is calling you and I too. Wow. He is calling us to follow him in such a sense that it actually radically changes our appearance. It changes everything about us. So I want you to understand from the beginning of the message that's the following, that Jesus is calling us to. Not a following from a distance that I see what you're doing, God at that church. I see what you're doing in the church. I see what you're doing in the Bible study, but it's really not changing me.
But God, I, you've called me to follow you in such a way that you radically change me. However, there are some things that are constantly stopping us. See, I think in for us to understand how to follow, we've gotta figure out what's stopping us from following, sir. And so I wanna start out with just a couple of things that I think that you and I have to recognize that maybe is stopping us from truly just fully just all land following Jesus. First thing I wanna bring to you is this. For some of us, when I talk to people about following Jesus, when I talk to people about surrendering their life to Jesus, one of the things that it's, it's kind of a normal human response is, Hey, what? What's the personal gain?
What am I gonna get out of this? Like how is this going to impact me? Like what's my return on investment? Lemme put it in a business term, right? Like if I invest in this, if I invest in this relationship, what am I gonna get out of this thing? And so many of us, we have stepped into a relationship with Jesus with this acceptance and expectation that we're gonna gain something personally. So because of that, we've walked through life just accepting and tolerating everything else for personal gain. But can I help you understand something, what you tolerate today, you accept tomorrow what you accept today, you embrace tomorrow. And what you embrace today, you promote tomorrow. For some of us, we've accepted things of the world, we've tolerated things of the world, we've embraced things in the world. And because of those moments in our lives, we are now starting to promote those things versus accepting and acknowledging this, that we serve a King that died on our cross for our sins. And the personal gain we get out of this is we get to step into a relationship with Jesus.
Now, I'm not, I'm not saying you're gonna get a boat. I'm not saying you're gonna have a big house. I'm not gonna say you're not gonna have trials, you're not gonna have struggles, you're not gonna have moments in your life. But what I am telling you is that the gain of the relationship is greater. In Romans chapter 12 and verse two, it says, do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It says is then that you were attest and prove what God's will is his good, pleasing, and perfect will. So many times we have conformed to the patterns of this world for the personal gain that we can get out of the world. We're more consumed with what we can consume from this world and what we can gain from this world that we can form to the patterns of this world. When scripture is very clear, it says, no, no, no, no. What's stopping you from following me is you're more focused on what you're gonna personally gain than focusing on what I've called you to do and what I've got for you in a relationship. The second thing that I think that stops many of us so many times is that God's just not doing what I think he should do.
I don't know about you, but there's been moments in my life where I just feel like I know better. Hey God, I really need this. God, I really need you to do this for me. And when he doesn't do what we don't want him to do, or he doesn't do what we think he should do, sometimes we're just kinda like having that moment in our life where whether we're following or not, that we're kinda like, God, are you really real? Like God, do you really even care about me? Do you really even care that I'm asking you for these things? Am I even important to you? God? God, are you really as powerful as your word says? Are you really good? Do you really care at all? Which brings me to the understanding that we have a misperception of what our relationship with God should look like.
And we should step into an understanding that God doesn't exist to serve us, we exist to serve him. Yes, sir, teacher, sir, we need to remember those things in our life. That he is the creator. We are the creator, he is the potter, we are the clay, he is the Lord, and we are the servants. We are called as a follower of Christ, to serve him as King. If you look in scripture, you're gonna see in Psalms 100 and verse two, it says, serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him with joyful psalms. I can't say how many times that I've stepped into the church and people are, are, are serving and there ain't no gladness there.
I mean, there ain't nothing there. You would much rather be somewhere else. But this is serve the Lord with gladness. That it is an opportunity. It is a blessing for us to be, to serve the Lord. In Deuteronomy 10, in verse 12, it says, serve the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, not with just part of it. I'm talking fully committed, all in everything you've got. Joshua 24, in verse 10 it says, as for a me in my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. Why? Because that's what we're called to do. We exist to serve him. In Romans 12, verse 11, it says, never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. See what you and I have to understand, when we struggle with this whole, God's not doing what I think he should do. Mentality is we've got this whole story messed up and we need to come back to this understanding.
Like I said, we exist to serve the Lord, but at the same time, we're not the main character of the Bible. God is the main character of the Bible. God is not our cosmic power plant to fuel all our dreams. He's not some genie in a bottle. He's not some spiritual vending machine for you and I, he's not some on demand God, that we think we can just call on and that we should be able to just get whatever we want when we want it. That's why when many times we just pray and we're like, I'm praying, but God, you're not really doing anything for me and you're not giving me anything I asked for. And because you're not giving me anything I asked for, I can't fully follow you 'cause you must not fully love me. And we have this misperception that we think this story's about us, this bible's about us, but we've gotta get our mind back focused on the fact that this story in this Bible is about God.
Yes sir. It's about a Savior. It's about a King. God doesn't prove his love for us when he answers our prayers. God proved his love for us when he sent his son for us. Yes sir. Yes sir. That's how he proves his love for us. See, love is not some feeling. Come on down. Love is what we do in spite of how we feel. When Jesus died on the cross, it didn't feel good. No sir. It didn't feel like something. It was, it wasn't like, oh, this is amazing. No, no, it was tough. It was painful. It cost, yes, sir. But in spite of how he felt, he still loved us and died on a cross and rose from the dead and brought victory over death for you and for I.
Third thing I want you to see is this. I just don't feel God. Many times the reason why we don't fully follow God is we just go, I just don't feel God. We've got this mentality of this goosebump God moments that we have to have. Can I tell you something? I can't tell you how many times I've, I've been in ministry for a long time. God's blessed me with a longevity here, but also in ministry as well. I, I can't say how many times I've heard people go, you know, I I just didn't really get anything outta the service this morning. Or I wanna look at you and go, shame on you brother s on you. That ain't on me because I, I brought the word and those guys that led the music, they did a great job and they sang well. They sang things that were good.
And man, I studied and I brought you what I felt like God was supposed to do. If you didn't get anything out of it, that's between you and Lord, that's you. And so a lot of times we go, I just didn't feel God this morning. Well then you got something wrong. You need to examine something in your own life. Because sometimes we think we gotta have this little tingly feeling to feel God. Right? Like why? Because we've all had those moments. Like, Hey, I, I got an amazing wife that I love. And I remember the first time I met her, I remember that tingly feeling that I was kind of like, yeah, hey, she's the one. Come on now. Now you might not have that same situation for you, but for me, I was like, that's, that's my lady. That's my wife. I didn't say it like that. That'd been a little weird and awkward. But it was there <laugh>.
But we've got this misperception that that's what we're supposed to have all the time in every relationship. And that if we don't have that tingling feeling every time we step into the, the house that oh, we must have not a or or you know, I just, I just don't have that emotional crying moment in my life. Like the movies say you're supposed to have, when you have something great happening, you're like, can I tell you something? I'm not a crier. I was raised in a house full of boys. We didn't cry. If you, if you cried, you got punched. It's just how it was. It's my generation. It was where I was at. I was South Georgia boy and it's, I was the youngest. We got punched for everything. It's just what it was, right? <Laugh> being a young brother. But I didn't cry. I can tell you the last time I cried was when one of my kids got baptized. Come on. Now. That's about it. But that don't mean I that God ain't present. That don't mean that God ain't moving because I don't cry. Or man, I just, I just didn't get as excited about it. I just don't, ah, I just don't feeling him. Can I, can I share something with you before I move into the next step here? If you always felt God that it wouldn't be called faith.
You know, there's moments in our life that we just have to step out and know that God is present
in faith and in obedience. There's moments in our life that we have to just live it out even when we feel like we're alone. But yet we know we're not. 'cause God says he's never gonna leave us nor forsake. 'cause He's gonna be with us. We gotta have faith in that. In Hebrews 11, six it says, and without faith it's impossible to please God. 'cause Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists. And that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. See, faith is needed in our walk with Christ. In order for us to fully follow Christ, we've got live a life of faith for Christ. In Psalms 51 10 says, create me a pure heart. Oh God, renew a steadfast spirit with an me and me. So what's stopping us? So we got a couple things that we know that are stopping us. Now, what is it gonna take for you and I to fully just kinda go in?
I, I got a couple of things that I wanna share with you and the time that I've got left to talk to you about what do you need to do to fully follow Jesus? And I think these are great principles. I think these are practical things. And I think these are applicable things. I think these are things that you and I need to take into consideration and to look at and go, this is what I need to be doing daily. First thing I want you to understand. If we're gonna fully follow Jesus, if we're gonna sell out and we're gonna go, Hey, I'm, I'm, I'm tired of just being a person that sits in a chair, stands up when I'm told to stand up, sits down when I'm supposed to sit down, shows up when I'm supposed to show up, sings the song every once in a while, does the things that I go through, then I need to acknowledge the need for a spiritual awakening in us.
I think daily we need to wake up every day acknowledging that we need a spiritual awakening within us every single day. Hebrews four and verse 12 says this, for the word of God is alive and it is active. It is sharper than a double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. We need to recognize that you and I have the opportunity inside of us right now to have an awakening inside of us. That we serve a God that is alive and active. Not a God that's in a grave, not a God that doesn't care about us. But he is alive, he is active, he is a part of our relationship. And we need to wake up daily going, God, I need that every day. I need that awakening inside of my life right now, knowing that God, you are still performing miracles.
That you are the same God that died on a cross and rose from the grave three days later. You're the same God that brought victory over death. You are the same God that has redeemed me. You are the God that takes tragedies and turns it into triumphs. You are my God and I, I need that awakening in my day. 'cause When that tragedy's coming, I need to remember that God, you are triumphant over it. Louis Giglio says this. He says, the cross bought pain to Jesus in the same breath that it brought freedom to you. And I see our God in the midst of what we saw as a tragedy, brought freedom to you and I, which is a triumph. He brought victory. And for us to fully follow God, we need to acknowledge that every day that we still serve the same God that brought victory over death, no matter what the tragedy is, he's still King.
He's still triumphant. Not only that, we've gotta recognize that God is enough, that God is enough for you. See, so many times we try to fill our life with so many other things that we don't have space for God. In Mark chapter six and verse eight, it says, I'll provide in Hebrews 13 and verse five, it says, I'll never leave you or forsake you. Is it not enough for you and I to recognize that the God of the universe is with us? And for some of us, we need that awakening every day to go, God, man, you're enough. I mean, I know I've got tasks that I've gotta accomplished today for my job. I've got things I've gotta do for my family, but God, you're enough and you're all I need to get through this day. You're all that I need to fully follow you.
You're all that I need to live out my faith and I don't really need anything else. God. So whatever you give me, that's just icing on the cake. That's just a blessing. But God, you are enough. But at the same time, if we're gonna have this awakening, we've gotta cultivate some awareness, some awareness for God. Now, I'm just gonna be honest with you, a little transparent with you for a second here. I'm not always the most aware person. I have to cultivate this in my own life, both personally as well as spiritually I'll. I'll tell you this about my life in my house. I love hot sauce. It's just something I like, it's part of my life. I like hot sauce on my chicken. I'm a south Georgia boy. Gotta have hot sauce on the chicken light, hot sauce on my eggs. I'm not a real picky person though.
There is like, I'm not like, I gotta have fancy hot sauce. I got one hot sauce that I really like and I'll stick with it. It's called Bull, bull Hot Sauce. Now, my wife and I have this little deal in our house. It was part of I think our, our, our wedding commitment to each other, our vows and everything is that I cut the grass, she makes sure we have hot sauce. It's just that thing, right? Like it's what we do. Like I don't have to ask, do we have any more hot sauce? No, we got hot sauce, right? There's hot sauce in the refrigerator when the hot sauce is in the refrigerator, when it gets low, it's like my wife just knows that it's almost empty. And there's another one that just appears in the refrigerator and there's one already in the pantry.
It's just our, it's, it's the way we do life. That's what makes our marriage work really well. One of the things we won't go into all the rest but it's, that is one of the major things that really makes our life work, right? Like we've got our, our systems and that's how it works. However, the other day I went to the refrigerator and we've been married for over 20 years now. And, and every time I go to the refrigerator, there's hot sauce there. And I went to the refrigerator and I was like, I can't find the hot sauce. And I started thinking, what's going on here? Like, is there something wrong? Where's the hot sauce? And I'm like, it's always in the refrigerator. Like over 20 years there's been hot sauce in the refrigerator. It's supposed to be there. She knows that I cut the grass, she does the hot sauce.
We've got this deal <laugh>. Like it's not a hard thing to keep up with. And so I'm like, can't find the hot sauce. But I, so I keep looking 'cause I don't wanna be wrong right in the midst of this. So I'm not gonna ask her just yet, like, where's the hot sauce? I'm not gonna be that guy that says that. And she's gonna be like, oh, there it is. And so I'm sitting here, I'm looking for it everywhere. It's not in the right place. It's not where it's supposed to be. I'm looking everywhere. I can't find it. And I finally give in and I go, Hey babe, where's the hot sauce? Simple question. She goes, it's in the refrigerator. I said, no, it's not. I've looked. She goes, yes it is in the refrigerator. I said, babe, there's no hot sauce in the fridgerator. Can you come help me? I can't find the hot sauce. She walks over to the refrigerator, opens the door, stands around the door, picks it up from right behind the ketchup, hands me the hot sauce. <Laugh>, she knew exactly where it was at. I have, I have, I have scoured through the whole refrigerator trying to find it. I can't find anything. I've found things that shouldn't have been in there from like three months ago. And I'll, I mean, don't judge me your refrigerator's refrige rich, same way. But I'm finding things and I'm like, but I couldn't find it. But this is what I learned in that moment is that sometimes God is right in front of us.
And sometimes we need someone just to help us come alongside us and go, Hey, God's right in front of you. He's right there. He's right there. And we need to cultivate this awareness of God in our lives. Hey God, even though I don't feel you sometimes you're still there, right? Even though I don't always think it's there. I need to acknowledge every day that you're there. And so that's what it is. Being aware of what the King is doing all around us, that he's right in front of us, even though we may not see him being aware that Jesus wants to do things through us, that Jesus wants to continue to move in us and use us, and that he has things in store for us. And so for some of us, in order for us to fully follow Jesus, we need to cultivate that awareness in our life.
And we need to have a spiritual awakening inside of us every single day for that. Second thing is this. We need to become aware of the importance of spiritual focus. What do I mean by that? Well, this is what I mean. Stop focusing on the wrong things. Stop focusing on the wrong places. The question I have for you is, are you more focused on how far you have to go or where God has brought you? 'cause So many times we're so focused on the things that we have to go do that we forget of where God has brought us from, that God has brought us from death to life. And we are so focused on the next task or the next thing, that we can't live in the moment where God's got us right now. We're so concerned about whatever's coming or those things that we forget about the, and be grateful for the gap that we have already covered as a follower of Christ, where God has already moved and used us and done things in our life.
And we miss the answered prayers 'cause we're so focused on the wrong places that we forget about the protection that God has given us, the provision that God has given us, the power that God gives us daily and therefore we don't fully follow him because we're so focused on what's about to happen, which is exactly where Satan wants us to live, is in the things all the wrong places. Instead of on Jesus in the present moment where he's at, in Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, it says, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. It says that you and I, if we really wanna make a difference and follow Jesus with everything we've got, we've gotta focus on Jesus.
Then, like I said earlier, if you're gonna follow somebody, you gotta be right there with 'em. Not from a distance, but I'm talking focused on them in the midst of the miracles that He's doing, in the midst of everything that's happening focused on Jesus. In Matthew chapter 1425 to 32, there's a story here. Many of you have probably heard if you've been in the church world for any time whatsoever, you've probably heard of this. But I think many times we just kind of gloss over it. We look over it quickly and we forget that something pretty miraculous happens here. For sake of time, I'm not gonna read the whole passage. You can go home and read it. But I am gonna kind of step into the passage for just a second. It basically says in Matthew 14 25 32, there was a time where Jesus had been speaking.
He comes to the time at the end of that, of speaking and, and kind of sharing. And he sends the disciples out on a boat and he says, you guys head on out. And as they head on out, he says, I'll catch up with you later. They don't ask how, they don't ask when nothing of that, which is pretty cool in itself. But as you continue on in the story, what you see is the disciples are out in the water and all of a sudden Jesus does something that no one has ever done in history. Instead of grabbing a boat, which could have easily happened, and it just paddled his way out there, even gotten somebody said, Hey, I need you to take me out there to where those guys are at. Jesus makes this decision to do something absolutely miraculous. He just starts walking <laugh>.
I mean, it's pretty crazy. I dunno about you, but for me to this day, I still go, wow, that's pretty impressive. There was no process to anything else that I'm just gonna walk out to that boat. And he walks on water, the first person ever to walk on water. No one's ever done this before. And so the response to the disciples is the same response that most of us would've had. At the same time. They start freaking out. Like they're like, what is going on? There's somebody walking on water that is not natural and they're coming right at us and they actually start thinking like it's a ghost. They're like, we're all going down. This isn't good. Where's Jesus at, at this point in time? And Jesus says something that for many of us would've been the same way. I'm this way. I I am guilty of this all the time.
As he's, as all the disciples are scared and are nervous and they're, they're, they're worried. Jesus gets, take courage. It's me, Jesus. And Peter responds just like most of us would. And I think we read over this very quickly. He responds, if it's you, Jesus, which is exactly how I think so many times, we miss what God wants to do in our life. 'cause Jesus is like, Hey, it's me. And we're like, well hey, is it really you? He said, no, no, I'm walking on water. Don't you see it? It's me. And he's like, well, if it's you, right? And so for him, now that could have been like a moment of like, oh, check. He kinda messed that one up. But he didn't. His response then acted in faith. 'cause Peter did something the other 11 wouldn't do. He became the second person in all of history to ever walk on water.
No one's ever done it again. Jesus and Peter, Jesus walks on water out. Peter says, if it's you, lemme walk out there. And he steps out of the button, church walking. But what happens? As long as he is focused on Jesus, he is living in the miracle. Yes sir. But the minute he looks at the wrong things, Hey, look at what's around me. Look at what's ahead of me. Look at over here. Oh man, I'm focused on those things. Now he starts to sink. The reason why many of us never fully followed Jesus. 'cause Like I said, we're so focused on the wrong things. When Jesus says you do wanna live in the miracle, focus on me.
Focus on me. And Jesus grabs 'em and they walk back to the boat. And that's such an amazing miracle that we see in scripture. But it's also a moment where you and I have to understand that if we're gonna fully follow Jesus, we gotta keep our eyes on Jesus, the author the perfecter of our faith. And the last thing, and I wanna close with this, we gotta accept the call to action to live out our faith authentically. Keyword is accept. Accept that call every day. In second Peter chapter one in verse 10, it says, therefore, my brothers and sisters make every effort to confirm your calling. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. What it means is this, we gotta step out of our comfort zone sometimes. And we gotta accept the fact that God has called us to be active in our faith.
God has called us to be fully following him. God has called us to go out and share the gospel. God has called us to go out and live for him as though he is truly King of our life. In one Corinthians seven 17 says, each person shall live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned them to. No matter what your job is, no matter what your task is, no matter what season of life you're in, God has assigned you a calling. And it says, in every situation, the Lord has assigned to them just as God has called them. Which basically means this, that we are to live as though God has truly changed our lives. We are to accept the fact that he has placed a calling of us on us and that we are to live as though God has saved us from death. And we're to live this story of redemption. We're to live a story of love for others. We're to live like Jesus and we're to live with consistency. See, your faithfulness today is what opens the doors of tomorrow.
It's what allows us to step into tomorrow and to see the miracles that God has for us. But I need you to remember this. Consistency beats intensity that is important for you. And I grasp if we're gonna fully follow, we've gotta be consistent in our walk with Jesus every single day. So many of us started the year off with a New Year's resolution and we jumped straight into this new year going, Hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go to the gym seven days a week, right? I'm intensifying everything about me. I'm gonna lose 50 pounds and like a month, right? I'm gonna change everything about myself right now. I'm jumping in with everything. I'm intensifying for my health, for my family. That's where I'm going, right? And because of that, many of us have already fallen off of that like week one. We didn't even make it seven days. We made it like two.
We've gained 50 pounds <laugh>. God's not calling you for intensity and following him, he's calling you to be consistent and following him. 'cause Consistency is what changes lives. I wanna leave you with this visual. I have a gallon of water and I pour it on a rock all at once. It will wash that rock off. It may clean the outset of that rock. You may see the effects of that water on that rock. It will spread out around that rock. Eventually though, it will dry up. But if I take that same exact gallon of water and every day I just drip and drip and drip that water consistently, eventually that water will drill a hole all the way to the center of that rock. Why? Because that consistency will change from the inside out. That consistency in our walk with Christ will beat the intensity of trying to knock it all out at once. And so every day we wake up and we go, God, I need a spiritual awakening every day. God, I need you to just become more and more of my focus every day. God, I need to understand that you have a calling on my life and every day I'm gonna allow you to drill deeper and deeper into my life consistently.