Taking the Leap (Friday Devotional)

“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.”

- 2 Timothy 1:7

I’ve never had much of a desire to go skydiving. That old cliché about seeing no reason to jump out of a perfectly good airplane perfectly describes my feelings—the most excitement I ever need to experience at that elevation is a little turbulence. But while I’ve never jumped out of a plane, I have a pretty good idea what it takes to be a skydiver.

First you need to find an eligible drop zone where skydiving is allowed, along with a pilot and a plane to get you in the air. You need to take a lesson from a professional instructor on what to do once you’re in the plane. If you’re smart, you’ll read up on skydiving, whether from books, magazine articles, or testimonials. You need a parachute, obviously. And finally, once you’re in the plane, thousands of feet above the ground, you have to jump. For all the preparation that comes before, all the studying and the instruction and the excitement, it’s that final step that makes you a skydiver—until you jump, you’re just like everybody else.

The way of Jesus is a little bit like that. There’s plenty of learning to be done, a host of Bible verses you can memorize, sermons you can hear, books you can read—but until you’re willing to step out and put what you’ve learned into action, until you’re ready to jump, you’re just like everybody else. And “just like everybody else” is not what God calls you to be.

God calls you to not only believe in Jesus, but to follow him; He calls you to take up your cross and be willing to suffer even unto death for your faith, just as Jesus suffered unto death for you. And faced with such a terrifying challenge, God does not give you “a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.”

To follow the way of Jesus means being courageous even in the face of uncertainty, because the way of Jesus is full of risks. When you evangelize to a friend, you take the risk that she will reject your message. When you give aid to a poor man, you take the risk that he will waste what you give him. When you show compassion to the guilty, you take the risk that the encounter will damage your reputation. Following Jesus means loving God and loving people even when it’s scary, even when it’s risky, because the way of Jesus is the way of the cross: giving of yourself so that others might know God’s love.

It’s not hard to believe in Jesus, because his message is appealing. It’s not hard to learn about him either, because his life and his gospel are interesting. But following Jesus is hard, because his way calls you to love sacrificially, to give when your instincts say to take. It can be difficult and it can be dangerous, but if you strive to be a follower of Jesus, you can’t love only when it’s comfortable. When you’re tempted to keep your faith strictly where it’s safe, may God give you the courage to jump.