"If I can just touch the water," I said to our tour guide Miriam.  "I'll be the happiest of campers."

The water I was talking about was the Sea of Galilee. I'd watched the sun rise over it, seen its mountains blush in the evening light, enjoyed a boat ride over its waves, and been to the "Man of Galilee Museum" where a 2,000-year-old fisherman's boat is displayed and wondered over.

But I hadn't touched the water He'd walked upon ... hadn't felt its coolness on the heat of my skin or taken a souvenir from the very place where Peter fished. If I could just do this one thing, just this one last thing ….

"If I can just touch the water," I said to our tour guide Miriam.  "I'll be the happiest of campers."

The water I was talking about was the Sea of Galilee. I'd watched the sun rise over it, seen its mountains blush in the evening light, enjoyed a boat ride over its waves, and been to the "Man of Galilee Museum" where a 2,000-year-old fisherman's boat is displayed and wondered over.

But I hadn't touched the water He'd walked upon ... hadn't felt its coolness on the heat of my skin or taken a souvenir from the very place where Peter fished. If I could just do this one thing, just this one last thing ….

Biblical History

In the past few articles, we've called him Impetuous Pete. The disciple Jesus called from a career of fishing with his younger brother, Andrew. The disciple named Simon Bar-Jona (son of Jona), but called Petros (Peter; the rock) by the Christ.

This was an impressive name for a man who characteristically did things on the whim. Even his rush from fishing to discipleship was spur of the moment. Scriptures do not say, "And when Jesus called him, Peter went home, thought about it, prayed about it, talked to a dozen friends about it, conferred with his wife over it." Rather, the Bible records, "At once they [Peter and Andrew] left their nets and followed him." (Matthew 4:20)