Years ago, when I was young enough to have a head full of hair and not much underneath, my sister Ellie and I decided that we just had to go parachuting.  Let me explain, though, sky diving is when you free fall and parachuting is when you use a static line to open your chute.  That may not seem like a big difference, but it is. When you use a static line, the only hard part is getting out of the plane.  Everything else is automatic.

The first time you first jump out of a plane, getting out of the plane is difficult.  Very difficult.  You have to get up from a cramped position, hoping to get some blood back into your legs before you have to attempt a maneuver that will leave you hanging onto the wing strut as the wind whips past you.  A small step is all that that is there to put your feet on, which isn’t much as you try to turn your hands around so that you can push off adequately.  This whole time, fear is attacking your consciousness, because you just know that even the slightest slip and you are going to … fall!

The ridiculous part of that is, of course you’re going to fall.  That’s the whole point of going up in the plane!  Knowing that doesn’t take away the fear, though, because you are counting on everyone doing their job correctly.  The packer must pack your chute right, the jumpmaster must put you out at the right spot so that you can land safely.  Even the pilot must do his job correctly.  And all you are required to do is fall.  And trust.

That seems like a lot to ask, but when I think about it, I realize that we trust constantly.  How so? My brakes will work when I press the pedal.  The other driver will stay on his side of the road.  The elevator works right.  The restaurant workers clean properly.  The pharmacist gave me the right medicine.  And so on, and so on.  We trust so many things will be done right.  And more times than we care to think about, our lives depend on it.

But what would happen if we were the ones packing a chute for someone?  Would they be safe, or would they plunge towards their death.  Perhaps we were careless, just this once.  Perhaps we tried to do it our own way, disregarding the approved method.  Maybe instead of doing our job, we were busy showing off.  Or maybe we didn’t show up at all, figuring someone else would do it.

These would sound like ridiculous excuses if we packed a chute.  The truth is, though, they’re just as ridiculous for Christians.  People around us are plunging to their deaths.  Are we doing our best or are we giving excuses?

One more thing – If Christ had done His job like we do ours, would we feel safe for eternity?  Just wondering.

In Him

Bob