Madison J. Caplinger

Remember the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus? Jesus said “Come” and Peter stepped out of the boat. There was no “But Jesus.” “But Jesus, I might drown.” “But Jesus, I can’t swim.” “But Jesus, I’m scared.”

Even the most devout of us would have all these things running through our head. My question to Peter is why he didn’t express these concerns. Did he trust that Jesus would hold him above the waves? Or was the sound of his beloved Jesus’ voice enough to compel him to forsake his own safety and run to him?

My guess is a bit of both. We could say a lot of things about Peter, but we could never say he didn’t love Jesus. As humans, we crave deep, unconditional love. We crave to receive it. And despite our selfish natures, we crave to lavish it on someone else. So often we find a likely candidate to pour our love into only to have that love thrown back into our faces. And we’re left more broken for it.

But what if instead, we fell in love with Jesus? What if we spent time getting to know him? Because once we truly know him, there is nothing to do but love him endlessly, and He wants us to know Him. What if we were to abide in His even more endless love for us? Because once we know that love, our souls would be satisfied. 

We were created with a longing that only He can fill. We try to fill it with other things, other people, only to end up emptier than before. So if we want to truly fall in love, we must fall in love with Jesus. Then we will learn what love is.