“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Every four years our calendar grows by an extra day, adding February 29 to make a total of 366 days. We call it Leap Year. Since the earth revolves around the sun every 365.25 days, a corrective measure is made every fourth year to enable the calendar to catch up with itself. This synchronizes the seasons with the true solar year. In a common year, all dates on the calendar move up one day of the week. If Christmas was Wednesday last year, it will be on Thursday in the current year. It all flows along very nicely until we have an extra day in February. In those years one’s birthday, which last year occurred on Friday, will leap over Saturday and be celebrated on Sunday this year. It has become rather logical to most persons, and unless you were born on February 29 – most of us really don’t think much about it.
In the 1992 movie Leap of Faith, a touring Christian evangelist played by Steve Martin takes his faith-healing revivals from city to city. The donations flow freely, but the healings are bogus. When the evangelist and company find themselves stuck in a remote nook of Kansas, they decide to perform for the locals and take them for all they are worth. The shows go off without a hitch, until one man recognizes the acts for the scam that they are and sets out to expose them. Thirty years before, in 1962 – Neil Armstrong joined the NASA Astronaut Corp. In 1969, on his second and final spaceflight – he exited his Apollo 11 spacecraft and became the first man to ever walk on the moon. On that day, no one thought he was a fraud as he spoke those words which have since become immortalized: “This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The act of leaping takes on many meanings as we go through life. When we are young, we learn to play leap frog in which, with our legs parted, we learn to jump over the backs of others who are bent down. As we get older, we may hear the expression ‘leap of faith’ being used. I am not sure that I completely understood what that meant until I bought my first home. I remember saying to a relative of mine that I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing. What if for some reason I would lose my job, become ill, or otherwise not be able to make my payments. He said, “So what do you have now?” “Nothing,” I said. “What would you have then?” he prodded. I again responded, “Nothing.” It was his way of saying to me that unless we make a change from where we are now to where we want to be, nothing really gets done. He didn’t exactly use the words, but I understood what he meant. It was a leap of faith.
Jesus loved it when persons with whom he came in contact took a spiritual leap of faith. In one situation, a centurion came to Jesus and asked him to heal his servant who was paralyzed and suffering. Jesus asked to be taken to the servant, but the centurion said that he was not worthy to have Jesus under his roof. He then expressed great confidence that if Jesus would just will it to be so, the servant would be healed. “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith’” (Matthew 8:10). As a man with power, the centurion understood that authority transcends distance. On another occasion, He found himself in the midst of a large crowd. “Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned to the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my robe?’” (Mark 5:30). A woman who had suffered with bleeding for twelve years was certain that if she could simply touch His clothes, she would be healed. As she came forward, falling at His feet and trembling with fear, “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering’ “(Mark 5:34). As we pass down the Road of Life, like the centurion and the sick woman – we will undoubtedly face many obstacles along our Journey. Unlike the cartoon characters of our youth, we cannot simply confront each new challenge by jumping off the edge of a cliff. We must pray for discernment. If it’s a risk God has blessed, then we will find the courage and the strength to embrace the Journey. It will be more than a leap year to remember. It will be a leap of faith worth taking, and it will enable us to fulfill one of God’s purposes for our Life,
REFLECTION: When God calls you to step out and take a risk, how do you respond? In what ways might you pray for direction when God seems to be leading you to demonstrate an act of faith? How can you use what God has already done in your life to give you the strength and courage to follow His lead?
A NEW LOOKUP DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT.,MARCH 5, 2016. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.