On this day in 1859 the French acrobat Charles Blondin walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

Blondin’s walk across Niagara Falls was dramatic. On that day, 100,000 people watched him walk on a single three-inch hemp cord, 1,100 feet long and 160 feet above the Falls on one side and 270 feet on the other.

Every day, thousands would gather to see him perform this amazing feat, suspended above the roaring waterfall below. One day Blondin asked the crowd if they thought he could carry a person with him on his tightrope walk. The crowd roared, “Yes,” hoping to see an even more amazing event.

He said it again: “Do you really believe I can do it?”

“Yes,” they shouted back.

“Then who will come with me? Which of you will volunteer?” he asked. And the crowd became silent—no one stepped forward.

Finally his manager, Harry Colcord agreed. So Colcord climbed on Blondin’s back, and the two of them walked slowly across.

This true story has been used as example of “faith” ever since.

You see, just saying we believe in someone or some thing is easy. Talk is cheap. But our actions show whether or not we really believe. Hundreds of people said the believed Blondin could carry someone with him across the Falls. But only one person truly believed.

In the same way, many people say they believe in God and even in Jesus as Savior. (You’ll hear that a lot in an election year.) But they don’t want to live the way the Bible says to live; they don’t want to obey God. Our verse for today says that kind of “faith” isn’t faith at all.

So if you profess to be a believer in God and a follower of Christ, are you really? If so, can people tell by how you live?

So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless. (James 2:17)

To Do

Make a short list of actions you should take or changes you should make in how you live to better demonstrate your faith in Christ. Ask God to help you do these actions and make these changes.

Also on this day . . .

This is Ice Cream Soda Day

1953—The first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan. It sold for $3,250 (a lot of money back then).

1971—The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18, was ratified.

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).