it is so worth the risk..

don’t waste your life.  make the decisions that will determine your destiny.  but understand that the fruit is on the end of the branch and there is risk involved in reaching for it but oh it is so worth the risk.

i love the story of how john ortberg took his then ten-year-old son parasailing.  the man driving the boat said he could ascend 400, 600, or 800 feet.  “how high above the water do you want to fly?”

john said, “there was a pretty big price difference, so i wanted to steer him toward 400 feet.”

then the son commented on how the whole idea was a little scary.  john said, “it struck me that when i was ten years old, being lifted 800 feet up in the air behind a speeding boat over a deep lake might make me swallow extra hard.  and i wanted him to be free of fear, so we talked through his options.”

the boy thought it over a few minutes, and he finally decided, “i’m gonna go 800 feet up.  i might be scared when i go up there at first.  but i’m going to do it because the ride only lasts a few minutes but once it’s over, i’ll have it forever.”

i think if GOD had anything to say to you now, it might be this:  the ride only lasts a few minutes. as for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.

in the vast eternal scheme of things, your life is briefer than you could possible imagine.  but whatever you do in faith, every time you trust me, whenever you act in risky obedience and jump in response to my invitation – that you will have forever.  go ahead and jump.

only one life will soon be past,

but only what's done for CHRIST will last.

just a thought from the front porch…