By Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

Reading: Mark 4: 35
“On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the sea.”
Jesus Wants To Take Us Across To the Other Side
Jesus decided to invite His disciples to go with Him across the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He did not invite the crowd to go with Him to the other side of the lake. He chose His disciples whom He called friends to accompany Him and go with Him to the other side. Jesus invites individuals, not crowds to Himself. And His disciples agreed with Him and obeyed His command that they cross over to the other side. Jesus requires us to obey what He tells us to do
and He will take us to the other side if we trust Him and obey. The disciples could have chosen to refuse by giving all manner of excuses but they chose to obey Him. If we want to receive God’s blessings, we have to obey Him. If He tells us He wants to take us to the other side, we should obey Him and He has promised to bless us on condition that we obey Him. He is saying that “If you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commands I am giving you today, the LORD your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you shall diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God:” (Deut 28:1-2) [HCSB] “And the Lord made a binding covenant and said, “If you will diligently obey the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and pay attention to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the LORD, am your healer.” (Exod 15:26) [NET] God knows that we need to cross over to the other side even without us telling Him. He knows our needs even before we tell Him of our needs. Jesus told His followers not to worry when we have a Father in heaven who knows our needs before we tell Him of our needs. “So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the
unbelievers (the idolaters, unconverted, pagans and gentiles) pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

We All Want To Move From Scarcity To Plenty
Maybe the disciples had depleted the fish on that side of the shore of the sea and the Lord knew that they needed fish. Maybe like Moses you have overgrazed on the same spot almost turning it into a desert. Godly curiosity urged Moses to leave the place of scarcity and find out what was at the far edge of the desert. “Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (Exod 3:1 [HCSB]) Moses realized that he was not progressing, not moving and was just stagnating at the same place. He had actually overstayed at the same spot in the desert: a situation of scarcity, inopportuneness, uselessness and hopelessness. He had overstayed at the same spot of unproductiveness. He decided that enough was enough. He was tired of grazing and overgrazing on the same spot. Geographically, he was contributing to desertification by overgrazing on the same spot. He was making the desert worse than he found it. He decided to obey his curiosity and moved over with his flock to the other side of the mountain to see what was there beyond the horizon. And that was when he saw God in a burning bush that was not getting consumed. And his life was never the same again. The moment you come face to face with God Himself, your life will be totally changed as He will set you free from shepherding sheep that belong to somebody else and make you to be king who will shepherd and
pastor His people and save them from bondage. “So the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.” (Exod 7:1 [NET]) “Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.” (Deuteronomy 33:4-5)
God Has Good Plans for You
God knows that we need to cross over to the other side where there are better things (greener pastures, opportunities, the promised land, place of safety, place of refuge) for us because He has good plans for us. “For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) [NET] The disciples had overstayed in one spot and maybe stagnated. He not only wanted to take them to a better place but He also wanted to help them increase their faith where they would know Him not only as their Master but as Lord of the universe who stills the storms and calms the sea.
The other side that Jesus is taking us to is the Promised Land. A better place than this world of wickedness that we live in. A rotten, evil, corrupt world full of deadly plagues, hunger, poverty and death. Jesus is inviting you to cross over with Him to a better place. The land of God’s promises. Jesus told His disciples “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” And He has been there before that is why He wants to take us there. He knows the way to the place because He is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6) Jesus is inviting you to seek the kingdom of God and live God’s Kingdom citizenship life here on earth as you hope that one day, you will be ushered into the ‘Promised Land’ called Heaven if you walk in His ways. The heavenly country where we shall live in glory for ever and ever with our Lord. “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (2Tim 4:18 [KJV)
Halleluyah. Praise the Lord. Amen.