����������� As you know our dear and beloved Pastor tries to get all of us involved in our services. It can be many things even singing a simple old gospel song. Well Diana asked me to do just that, and it seems when my turn came around to do something, singing was not on the list. Understandable I suppose, afterward most of you passed your sympathies to my wife and walked quietly on shaking your head.
����������� Well, Diana�s choices for things for me to do were unappetizingly short. Until the day she heard me sing, me talking was at the top of her list. Well since I am talking to you now, we can see how her priorities changed.
����������� At any rate she asked me to talk about something near to me that could be inspiring. And I thought about it. And the longer I thought about it, the more nervous Diana became about the subject I may chose.
����������� At about the same time, the subject of being �Saved� arose with my ten year old daughter. Although she openly met all the prerequisites she was still not familiar with what �Saved� really meant. The best I could muster was explanations of Faith. So I though on it.
����������� There really wasn�t a good analogy I could think of that would apply to a youngster�s reality. I needed something to bring it to a level of which they could really understand. It was then I remembered an old joke.
����������� I heard Harry Reasoner, a network newscaster at the time, tell this story but don�t remember just what his motivation was for telling it. But it has stuck with me for all of these years, maybe just for this situation.
����������� It went something like this:
����������� A man is walking along the cliffs in the early morning.
He smiles as he watches the gulls fly and dip through the air. He listens to
the surf crash on the rocks below, He feels the wet mist on his skin. And the
sun begins to rise.
����������� Paying just a bit too much to the wonders of God, the man wanders to close to the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, the rock gives way and the man falls. It is only with luck that he manages to grab the only thing protruding from the cliff, a small tree branch.
����������� His head moves slowly from side to side looking for a
foothold that he won�t find. He looks up, but no one is there. He looks down,
and doesn�t see an acceptable way down there.
����������� Again he looks up, and at the top of his voice yells for help. �Is ANYONE up there?� Quiet seconds pass. �I said, is ANYONE up there?�
����������� After a few seconds, a voice from Heaven booms down,
�Yes, my son, I am here.�
����������� At last. Rescue. �Oh, God! You gotta help me! You just
GOTTA!�
����������� �Yes, my son, I can help you. But you must have faith.�
����������� �I have faith, do I EVER have faith!� he yelled back.
����������� The voice booms down, �The you must let go of the
branch!�
����������� The man slowly looks from side to side, then down and
ever so slowly back up. �Is there ANYONE ELSE up there?�
����������� There is Faith. That is being �Saved�. It really boils down to the single word �Trust�. Having Faith in God, or being �Saved�, all comes down to letting go of the branch and trusting, knowing, that God will save you.