A certain scribe came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” (Matt. 8:19). We are not told anything else about this man or his heart or what happened to him, but what an affirmation to make—“I will follow you wherever you go.” After speaking to the multitudes about following Him, “[Jesus] got into a boat [and] His disciples followed Him” (8:23). They were doing the right thing (He commanded them to do it), and they were following the right person (the great “Teacher” [v. 19] and “Lord” [v. 21]). But, following Jesus does not mean that life will have smooth sailing.
Even while following Jesus, “suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves” (8:24). So, what did the men do who were following Him? “Then His disciples came to Him…‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’” (8:25). They had been following Jesus and were beginning to learn the struggles that would come with following Him, and now they were in the midst of a great tempest, being tossed and overwhelmed by the waves from the storm. The cry of the disciples to the Lord, in a present tense verb, was, “We are continually perishing!” In response, Jesus rebuked the disciples for their “little faith,” then He “rebuked the winds and the sea,” which brought about “a great calm,” so that the disciples were no longer “perishing” (8:26). Think about this for a minute.
Would to God that the lost of the world (including our family members, friends and acquaintances), who are covered and are being covered by the waves of sin, would cry out to God, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
Would to God that the lost of the church (i.e., those wayward members of the church), who are being covered by the cares, riches and pleasures of life, would cry out to God, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
Would to God that the Christians, who are allowing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life to deceive them into thinking that what they’re doing is permissible or adequate or even tolerable to God, would cry out to God, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
Can you truly say to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go”? Is steadfast devotion to the Lord, even when the sailing isn’t so smooth, your number one objective in life? Do you turn to the Lord and cry out to Him when the going gets tough? Have you experienced the great calm that attends a life that walks with the Lord?
Are you in a storm right now? Are the waves coming in on you? Do you have a sense that you are perishing? Is there any reason you shouldn’t turn it all over to the Lord?