Immediate Worship

Friday - August 6th

Scripture to Read Today: Matthew 14:22-33

---

Those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Matthew 14:33

In November of 2017, I had the opportunity to be the Bible Teacher on a Tour of the Holy Land hosted by Salem Media. We had about 200 people from Calvary and around the country who join us for this chance of a lifetime trip. We visited Jerusalem, looked out at the Jezreel Valley from Mount Carmel, and walked down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. In addition, we enjoyed sweet worship times at several famous sites and participated in communion together outside the garden tomb.

We walked where Jesus walked, with one exception. We did not walk on the water of the Sea of Galilee as Jesus did. Instead, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. I even got extremely motion sick from reading our Scripture passage from today's devotional text of Matthew chapter 14. I recovered when we got to shore. But, while we were on the sea, not one of us got out of the boat and walked on water.

The story found in Matthew 14 tells how Jesus came walking on water to the disciples who were in a boat crossing the sea after dark. Peter boldly asked if he could join Jesus on the tumultuous sea. Sure enough, Jesus invited Peter to step out of the boat and walk to Him. Peter took those first few steps on the water, eyes fixated on Jesus. Then, he sank as his focus shifted to the waves and the wind of the storm. As he cried out for Jesus to save him, He immediately felt himself being pulled from the water by Jesus.

The response to both who Jesus was and what He had just done was simple. "Those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God'" (Matthew 14:33). The worship happened immediately at that moment. They did not wait until they were at the Temple or a synagogue.

Declare to the Lord today Who He is. Tell Jesus you recognized Him as the Son of God. Don't wait till you are at church. Instead, practice immediate worship now in this moment!

As soon as you have a fresh glimpse of who Jesus is and what He had done, stop and immediately worship Him!