A passing thought…… Have you ever read, or listened to, a very well known Bible passage and found that something in it just jumps out at you as a completely new revelation, or is it that I am just particularly slow at grasping the obvious? Anyway, one of these moments happened recently at one of our Bible-study sessions and I hope it's worth sharing with you.

We have been studying 'Faith and Life', a series of house-group studies by Rev Paul Smith (highly recommendable). One of his Bible references was from Mark 6: v 45-52. Jesus had just fed the five thousand and, having sent the disciples out in a boat to travel ahead of him to Bethsaida, he stayed behind to pray.

When evening came, he saw, from the shore, the disciples 'straining at the oars, because the wind was against them'. It was then that Jesus walked towards them on the lake. Verse 48 tells us that 'He was about to pass them by….. but they cried out to Him….. and immediately He spoke to them'!!

I have read this story so many times before but have, until now, never grasped that Jesus was about to pass them by and could have done so had they not cried out to him.

I was reminded of that famous painting of Jesus standing outside a door, but couldn't enter because there was no handle; a door which can only be opened from inside if we want to allow him in. How many times is Jesus right by us, when we need him? He knows we are struggling; he knows he can help us but, unless we call out to him, we cannot expect him to enter our lives.