by Celeste Eagle | Southern Theological Seminary
Passages Alumna
“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”
Chills ran down my spine as our group sang these lyrics a cappella, the sweet, confessional words of a timeless hymn echoing out across the Sea of Galilee.
Our Passages group, made up of masters and Ph.D. students from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, had just finished a long day of touring incredible sites all around the Sea of Galilee. We had dipped our toes in the Jordan River near where our Savior was baptized—it was much smaller and yet more beautiful than most expected. We had stood near the excavated synagogue site in Magdala where Jesus had almost undoubtedly taught as he carried out his teaching ministry in the area. We had paused to allow our hearts a time of worship and reflection on the Mount of Beatitudes, taking time to read a portion of the Sermon on the Mount and imagining what it would have been like to hear Him teach. We spent time examining the ruins of Capernaum, listening as our tour guide rebuilt the town as it would’ve been in Jesus’s day for our imaginations.
It had been a tiring day, yet deeply rewarding. Specific bible stories had really come to life, deepened and enriched by our tour guide’s base of knowledge and the ability to attach a snapshot to the chapter and verse in our minds. How could it get any better?
We stepped onto the small, wood-finished boat and began our cruise across the Sea of Galilee as the sun began to set behind the mountains. Storybook, picturesque, surreal…these are the adjectives that come to mind as I recall the experience of gliding across this small body of water that plays such an integral part in the Gospels. For the first half hour our group buzzed about, taking selfies and exclaiming over and over “Can you believe we’re here?! Can you believe this is real?!” But after awhile the mood began to shift. Everyone quieted down and the boat drivers kindly played Christian music for us in the background. Soon, the music shut off, and it was just quiet. A few of our more musically inclined students began to sing, and soon, the whole boat was filled with just our voices of praise to the Savior who had long ago calmed these stormy waters.
As we began to sing “Come Thou Fount,” the lyric I mentioned at the beginning hit me especially hard, as it usually does. Something about confessing the tendency of my heart to stray from my Savior and asking Him to keep holding me in His hand deeply stirs my soul. But this time I thought not only of myself, but of Peter. I thought of his step of faith out onto these rough waters as he made his way toward Jesus in faith. And then I thought of him beginning to sink, eyes off of Jesus, wandering away in his heart just for a moment. Then as Matthew records it in chapter 14 of his gospel, “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” My heart could have burst with gratitude that Christ has been saving sinners like Peter and I for thousands of years. Thank you, Jesus, for your patience with sinners. Thank you Passages, for the opportunity to worship in such a spectacular setting. Our hearts and flesh may fail, but You are our strength our heart and our portion forever.