Over the Wall

Over the Wall

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
                                               Joshua 24:15

Saying something like “if you do it, I’ll do it” can either get us in a lot of trouble or cause us to launch out and try something that takes a lot of stretching. When the 14 year old girl asked us, many years ago,  if we wanted her to show us how to get down to the pool at Texas Falls in Vermont, we said sure, but without realizing the commitment we were making. She calmly walked to the edge of the rocks, stepped off, and dropped the 40 or so feet into the water. My stomach did a perfect somersault as I realized that no self-respecting 25 year old could not follow through and take the same plunge that young girl had so graciously demonstrated. With heart pounding, I will never forget that jump, a jump that my words committed me to taking into the most refreshing, exhilarating pool of fresh water I’ve ever experienced.

President Kennedy used to tell a story about his grandfather with a very similar point. His grandfather grew up in Ireland and talked about climbing some of the 10 – 12 foot high, jagged cobblestone fences that his group of friends passed on their way home from school. Some were difficult and dangerous to go over for these boys who wanted to climb but didn’t want to get hurt doing it. One day Fitzgerald, President Kennedy’s grandfather, took off his cap and threw it over one of the most difficult walls to climb knowing full well that he now had to climb the wall or face certain discipline from his parents for going home without his cap.

Asking that young girl to show us how to get down to the water at the base of Texas Falls committed me to a jump that I seriously doubt I would have taken if my words hadn’t required it. But now 35 years later, I can laughingly look back on the best jump of my life. Fitzgerald might not have climbed that difficult wall but throwing his cap over the wall ended the discussion; he was going over no matter how difficult it was. And we know he survived to tell a grandson who took on some incredible challenges in his short lifetime also.

Telling others we’re going to do something, or announcing something that once we say it, we can’t easily back out of it, even if we wanted to, can be like our throwing our cap over the wall. It forces us to stretch and to move beyond what is comfortable and certain in our lives. Is there something you have felt challenged to do for a long time but fear has kept you standing at the top of the cliff, or looking up from the base of the wall? Maybe today is a good day to throw your hat over that wall by publicly declaring a goal you have or a desire that God has placed in your heart. It just might be the step that puts you over the top!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church