Blessed2Bless by Steve Klusmeyer
Out On A Limb
by Marcia Lee Laycock
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Out On A Limb
Every now and then there is a scene in a movie or a paragraph in a book that makes me sit up and take notice. They are moments when I suddenly see a deeper meaning than what is being portrayed on the surface.
There's a scene in the movie, Medicine Man, that can be
interpreted in this way. The two main characters, a man and a
woman, both doctors, are walking through the Amazon jungle. The
woman suddenly collapses and tells the man she has a raging
headache. He gives her an antidote made from the bark of a local
tree. He doesn't tell her it will have an intoxicating effect. As they
continue along the high mountain path, her coordination is clearly
suffering. She slips and falls off the trail, slides down a steep slope
and lands on an overhanging tree trunk.
At first she laughs and says she's all right. She isn't hurt, everything's fine. But the man comes along and can see from a different perspective. The limb on which she is precariously perched is overhanging a gorge several hundred feet below. When the woman realizes the danger she is paralyzed with fear. The man, of course, comes to her rescue.
That woman's predicament is a lot like ours. We too are intoxicated, on the things of this world. They act like painkillers that keep us from understanding reality. They blind us to the true state in which we are living. They keep us distracted and in a state of artificial happiness. But, like that jungle trail, there are slippery slopes along the path. We too end up clinging to overhanging branches; we are out on a limb that sways out over the chasm of death. We might exist there for a long time, thinking we're doing all right, thinking there is no danger. But sooner or later our eyes are opened. And like the woman in that movie, the fear can be paralyzing.
But as there was someone there to help her, to rescue her, there is Someone who has rescued us. His name is Jesus. The Apostle Paul refers to Him in the book of Galatians, chapter one, verses three to five. He says - "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
In the movie, the man has to convince the woman that it's safe to trust him and his method of rescue. Eventually she realizes she has no choice - staying on that limb would mean eventual death. We too need convincing. It is only when we realize the danger of our situation that we comprehend we have no choice. Trust Jesus, or stay where we are. Trust Jesus, or die.
Used by permission.
Marcia is the Author of The Spur of The Moment, slices of life that will stir your spirit, and The Spur, a Free weekly devotional.
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