"Are You Ready to Sky Dive?"

Hebrews 2.3a NKJV

“…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

 

My son Stanford and I went skydiving for his eighteenth birthday.[1] Even my seventy-one year old father-in-law, Ralph, joined us. Each one of us stepped off an airplane at 13,500 feet with a dive master strapped to our backs in our first (and my only) ‘tandem dive.’

Why did we do it? I suspect Stanford wanted to experience the thrill (and thrill it was) of free-falling at a speed of over one hundred miles per hour for nearly sixty (very long) seconds. I did it because Stan wanted me to go with him. (I’m not sure why Ralph would do such a crazy thing.) I’m now glad I jumped but I would not have put skydiving on the top of my birthday list!

The event was anything but ‘ho-hum.’ I was not bored. My senses were tweaked to the max. Contained deep in my soul was a singular purpose to which I was 100% committed… to land safely on planet earth! This was the goal of my salvation and dive master Bobby was my savior.

At pre-jump ground school we were told things can go wrong. People die jumping out of airplanes. Chutes don’t open. Equipment fails. Airplanes crash. In the unlikely event of an unexpected incident of this kind there was one rule and one rule only… do exactly what your dive master says. Don’t argue. Don’t talk. Don't even think. Just shut up and obey dive master Bobby’s every command.

Over fifty years ago I strapped Jesus Christ to my back and together we made a tandem leap of faith. I am still hurling toward heaven at an incredible speed. I have one goal… to land safely on heaven’s ground. Things sometimes go very wrong. I feel afraid. Will I make it to heaven? Will my chute open on time? I am comforted by my belief that Jesus is infinitely qualified to take full control of my free fall through life. On my own I will fall to certain death. Separation from my Heavenly Dive Master is unthinkable. How could I possibly “escape” death if I “neglect so great a salvation?” I’m not about to un-strap myself from my tandem partner. Jesus is my Savior.

It’s always best, especially in times of crisis, to remember the most important rule of faith... shut up and obey Dive Master Jesus’ every command!

“…diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to

do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD

your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.”

Deuteronomy 28.1 NASU

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[1] I had a good experience at Skydive Oregon somewhere around September 2006. To learn more, go to http://www.skydiveoregon.com/.