|
In 1857 a tightrope walker named Blondin stretched two-inch steel cable across the gorge of the Niagara Falls, attracting a large crowd. He said to the onlookers, "How many of you believe that I can carry the weight of a man on my shoulders across this gorge?" The crowd shouted and cheered their belief that he could do it. Sure enough, Blondin picked up a sack of sand weighing 80kg and carried it across the fall. Then Blondin said, "How many of you believe that I can actually carry a person across the gorge?" Many people in the crowd indicated that they thought he could do it. Then Blondin called out, "Which one of you will climb on my shoulders and let me carry you across the falls?" Suddenly there was silence. Everyone wanted to see Blondin carry a person across the gorge and many believed he could. But nobody wanted to put his life in Blondin's hands. Some time later Blondin did carry a man across Niagara Falls. The man was Blondin's manager, who had know the tightrope walker personally for many years. "You must not trust your own feelings, but mine," Blondin told his manager as they prepared for the crossing. "You will feel like turning when we don't need to turn. And if you trust your feelings, we will both fall. You must become part of me." This is what faith in Jesus is: knowing Him personally and entrusting our lives into His hands. |