When the disciples and Jesus where in the boat crossing the sea of Galilee, they were not strangers. Jesus had already been teaching with them, healing with them, and even raised someone from the dead. They ate with him, they traveled with him, lodged with them. Jesus was not a stranger to the disciples.
And yet, when they encountered a storm on the sea, Jesus did something that revealed a whole new aspect of himself to them. He calmed the winds and the waves. With just a simple word the storms rage left in an instant. The response of the disciples describe their amazement:
"Who is this?"
They knew who Jesus was...or did they? They had already seen Him heal the sick, raise the dead, and do miracles. But now they've seen something in him they did not see before. And now they need to question who they thought He was to understand who he really is.
We need to stay attentive to Jesus today. The reality is that God may want to do something in our lives today that reveal an aspect of his character that we have either not seen before or understood before. We've only really scratched the surface of understanding when it comes to knowing who He is. Sure, we know the major concepts, but something amazing happens when we see a concept of His character become a reality in our lives.
It makes us realize that while we thought we knew who He was, there is way more to Him than we ever thought. The revelation of who He is goes deeper than we ever thought.
They way we stay attentive to Jesus is quite simple. All we need to do is stay in His boat. Remember Jesus was the one who said they should travel to other side of the lake. The disciples simply agreed with His will; they agreed to go with Him. Just by staying in His will; going where He is going, we are bound to see Him in deeper and more profound ways than we have known him.
Worship is the natural response that comes from finding out the answer to 'Who is this?'. When we see a new or deeper layer of His character worship always follows.
Interestingly, when Jesus calms the storm, he asks the disciples why they had no faith. What was Jesus implying? Was he implying that the disciples could have calmed the storm themselves? Here is the real kicker...when you see something about Jesus that you've never seen before, you have also just discovered something new about who you are meant to be.
When I see more clearly how amazing He is and couple that with the understanding that 'as He is, so also are we in this world' (1 John 4:17) then our worship becomes and overwhelming response of gratitude and gratefulness.
