DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY?

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe." - Saint Augustine

Blondin on September 14, 1860, became the first person to cross a tightrope stretched 11,000 feet across the mighty Niagara Falls. People from both Canada and America came from miles away to see this great feat. He walked across, 160 feet above the falls, several times. Each time with a different daring feat - once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and blindfolded. One time he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope! A large crowd gathered and the buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the river bank. The crowd “Oohed and Aahed!” as Blondin carefully walked across - one dangerous step after another - pushing a wheelbarrow holding a sack of potatoes. Then a one point, he asked for the participation of a volunteer. Upon reaching the other side, the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls! Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" The crowd enthusiastically yelled, "Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!" "Okay," said Blondin, "Who wants to get into the wheelbarrow." As far as the Blondin story goes, no one did at the time!
In August of 1859, Blondin's manager, Harry Colcord, did ride on Blondin's back across the Falls.

Similarly, it is one thing for us to say we believe in God. However, it's true faith when we believe God and put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. After reading Blondin's story this morning, do you see anything striking about both the story and how it relates to us? God is Blondin, and we are the crowd. We "Ooh" and "Aah", at God's wondrous works when we read the Bible or hear of other people's encounter; but we lean back in fear when we need to trust Him for us. Someone said once that, trust in God often requires us to let go of the branch we're clinging to, at the edge of the cliff just because God says so. Believing that He'll either catch you or give you wings to fly!

Blondin's story illustrates a real life picture of what faith actually is. The crowd watched these daring feats. They said they believed. But...their actions proved they truly did not believe. What actions are you taking today that greatly discredit your faith in God, remember "without faith it is impossible to please God". Take a leap of faith this morning. Get into God's wheelbarrow, He'll take you across, unhurt!