Do you remember the scene in the third Indiana Jones movie where he went through all those traps in order to save his father? The last trap he encountered happened as he came up to the edge of a cliff. He has a deep chasm in front of him, and he is told to take a step forward into the seemingly nothingness. He steps forward and he lands on a rock ridge. It’s not a bad picture of faith. God tells us to step forward. We don’t know where we’re headed but we land on solid rock. Some people call faith a leap in the dark. I guess you could call it that. I’d rather call it a step into the light. God gives you the next step but not necessarily the step after that, so it’s a little bit scary. You cannot always see where you’re going. That is the risk of faith.

There are moments in our lives when we come to that cliff, where we have to take the risk of faith. What risk of faith are you on the edge of right now? Maybe it’s the risk that you’ve been going to church and hearing about Jesus Christ and realizing there’s something to this. “There’s something to this. I’m being drawn to it.” You want to keep finding out more, but there’s also something in you that wants to retreat from it. It’s a little scary. You have found that He is a God who loves you, there is a church that cares about you and there is something practical that fits into your life. Are you going to retreat, or are you going to run away, or are you going take the risk of faith and follow this through to the end? That’s the risk. Maybe it’s the greatest risk of faith God is challenging you to take right now in your life: To step over that line where you say, “Jesus, I want to live my life for you. I want to give my life to you. I need you to forgive the wrong things that I’ve done. I need you to direct and guide my life.”

If you do not take that risk of faith, what you are giving up: love from God, security and peace in your heart, adventure satisfaction in life? If you don’t take that risk of faith, what joy are you giving up in your life? Let me quickly remind you, when you take that risk you will face challenges. Challenges that will include fighting our enemy (Satan), temptation to quit, as well as many other obstacles placed in our path. Putting faith into practice is not a cakewalk or a bed of roses. It can be painful, so be prepared to go to battle and receive some scars.