Stir It Up!

     It was a bright clear morning when a large crowd gathered at the Niagara Falls to see the famous Blondin walk over it on a tightrope.  The sun glistened on the cascading torrent of water as it rushed over the precipice.  The world’s greatest tightrope walker briefly tested the taut strand that reached across to the opposite bank. Then he took his long pole, balancing himself expertly, started walking across.  The crowd silently watched every step he took.  Step by step he moved forward.  The people on the bank reacted nervously to every sharp motion of the balancing pole.  But their fears and anxieties were unnecessary, because the great Blondin not only went across to the other side of the Falls safely, but returned as well, to his starting point. 
     Turning to the applauding audience he made a spectacular offer.  He would cross the falls again, this time, with someone on his back.  He then posed the question: “Who is willing to go?”  No one rushed forward to accept the invitation.  Pointing to a man, Blondin asked, “Do you believe that I am able to carry you across the falls?”  “Yes sir,” replied the man.  “Well, let’s go,” Blondin urged.  “Not on your life!”  And the man withdrew into the crowd.  And so it went. 
     One after another expressed confidence in the tightrope walker, but no one volunteered to let Blondin take him across.  A young fellow in the back of the crowd made his way to the front and said, “I believe in you and I believe that you can carry me across to the other side of the Falls.”  Blondin said, “Jump on,” and the young man climbed onto the expert’s back.  Blondin stepped onto the rope, paused a moment, then slowly moved across the tightrope without difficulty.  Together they made it safely to the other side. 
     There were many in the crowd who believed that Blondin could do it, but there was only one who was willing to trust him to do it.  This is called faith.  Faith is more than an announcement of “I believe!”  It is a verb.  It requires action.  It demands trust so strong that a person lives, moves, and has his being by it.  It’s true that faith without works is dead and good for nothing.  For more clarification, check out James 2:14-26. 
     Faith and works are like the two chemical ingredients of salt, which we are told is composed of two poisons: sodium and chlorine.  It is said, if we ingest either of the two poisons we will die.  But if we combine them properly, we have sodium chloride, which is the common table salt that gives flavor to our food and indeed life and health to our bodies.  And so, too, are faith and works inseparable.  They go together like a hand in a glove. 
     As gloves and surgical tools are valuable to a surgeon so are works, talents, and abilities valuable to a Christian’s faith.  We have been given an order, “…Stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” For more info you can visit us at www.JoyChristianMinistries.com.

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