In 1912 the first parachute jump from an airplane was made.

Imagine being the first person to jump out of a plane, trusting your life to a parachute. Think of your questions: “OK, how does this work?” “What happens if I pull the cord and nothing happens?” “How ‘bout I go second?”

Leaving the safety of the airplane would take faith, but you’d jump if you had confidence in the person who made the parachute, the one who prepared it, and your instructor. Of course asking questions would be good. You would be foolish just to take someone’s word that your jump would be safe. For example, what if a complete stranger said, “Let me strap this parachute to your back and take you up in a plane. Then, when we get real high, you jump out of the plane, pull the cord, and land safely.” No doubt you wouldn’t go. Why should you trust that guy?

You’ve heard often that the Christian life is based on faith. That means trusting God, that his Word is true and that he will do what he says. It doesn’t mean we just “jump” without asking questions or checking everything out. Eventually, however, the moment of truth arrives and we leap.

Besides becoming a Christian, this applies to other decisions along the way. Let’s say you’re reading the Bible and you see where God wants you to turn over a relationship to him or to take a certain action. So, by faith, you do it. Not knowing the eventual outcome, you trust God and obey him.

How strong is your faith in God? Are you ready to take the leap?

What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see (Hebrews 11:1).

To Do

Get an old hymnal and look up the hymn “Trust and Obey.” Read it aloud, or, if you know it, sing it.

Also on this day . . .

1940—A basketball game was first televised (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh, from Madison Square Garden in New York City).

1979—The horse playing Mr. Ed on TV died.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.