Until the home that we are in, Janet and I have never lived on a lake. To be perfectly blunt about it, one could argue that the body of water we live on now is a large pond – about 16 acres or so. But we are grateful that we found this house and that we can enjoy the view from nearly every room in our home.
We are mesmerized by the water – it is always changing. We have ducks, geese, swans and even a blue heron who call our lake home. Sometimes, there are white caps or ripples across the surface when the wind comes up – or like this evening, the lake is perfectly calm – like a sea of glass.
We sit on our upper deck or down on the patio level and just like to watch the lake – it’s like it has a life of its own. Sometimes, we read or play with Hank, our dog, and other times Janet may join me down at the shore and talk while I fly fish. We even have a little pedal boat that we purchased the summer of 2017.
It was kind of late in the year when we got it so Janet and I only went out once before we stored it for the season. Last year, I got hurt and the boat has stayed in storage since the end of the 2017 season. That just means that we leaned it against the railing and covered it up for almost two years – until yesterday…
I have always loved the water. Back in boy scout camp, in 1966, I learned how to paddle a canoe, but was kind of embarrassed when I capsized it during my merit badge test. Thankfully, I have never done that again! But I have missed having a small boat – even a canoe or a kayak – and that’s when we agreed to get the pedal boat for our small lake.
So, with my recovery pretty much complete, yesterday seemed like the perfect day to get the boat out of storage and clean it up for a little joy ride. Our grandson, Cooper, helped me and we actually launched the boat and he took it for several laps around the lake. Today, I joined him. What a joy it was to be back on the water after almost two years. It just feels so free! The houses along the shore look different from the water and I couldn’t help but let my hand run through the surface as we pedaled across the lake. I am anxious to have a kayak or a canoe but Janet is rightly concerned that I may no longer have the dexterity, strength or balance to make that a smart decision.
As I sit here this evening, thinking about the events of today, and watching the sunset over the water, I have been pondering how may biblical events involved water. Of course, there is the creation story, the Red Sea during the Exodus, the story of Jonah and many stories of Jesus in the New Testament to name just a few.
There was the time that Jesus calmed the sea when the disciples thought they were going to perish. Or when Jesus walked across the water and met them in the boat at night – but the one that I think about most often is when Jesus was preaching and the crowds were pressing in on Him. He needed more room and so He asked Peter to take Him out in the lake where He could address the people on the shore. After He was finished, Peter and several of the others went fishing with Jesus and filled their boats with their catch – almost sinking their little boats.
Our verse for tonight is the one that started that whole chain of events. Luke tells us that Jesus chose the boat of Simon Peter, one of the disciples, in Luke 5:1-3, “One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”
My encouragement tonight is that almost everything we do each day can connect with some story from the Scripture if we will just think about it. My prayer is that whatever we do, we will always put God and Jesus at the center of our experiences! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…