There’s a picture Timothy Keller uses in one of his sermons to articulate the need for faith. It goes a little like this:
Imagine you are stood on the precipice of a great cliff. Running toward you, teeth bared and claws ready is a great big grizzly bear. To stand still means certain death. You peer over the precipice and know that to leap towards the ground would also mean death. However you notice some branches protruding from the edge of the cliff several feet downwards. You could jump and hold on to them, safe from the bears clutches. Which one do you go for? Some look strong, others weak and thin. There’s no way of knowing which branch will hold your weight, regardless… you must make a choice.
What doesn’t matter, to a degree is how strong your faith in a certain branch is. A man of great faith may leap from the cliff with confidence and gusto and be saved. Equally, a man of small faith may shuffle off the side of the cliff and make for a branch, half expecting it to snap. Both men, if the branch is strong, will be saved.
What matters most, is choosing the right branch.
Keller uses this dramatic picture to represent the importance of faith in ours lives. We must make a decision. Which branch shall we trust, remembering we can only choose one. At crunch time some of us will find that the branch we trusted in our whole lives will break and we shall fall. Those branches may have looked strong and healthy, but were shown to be weak and worthless. Others may choose not to even go for a branch, believing the fall to be trivial and not worth concern.
Either way, the confidence we have in the branch is of secondary importance. The primary concern is choosing the right branch. If you feel that your faith in Jesus Christ is small you’re much like the man shuffling off the cliff wondering if the branch will snap. Be comforted. He’s strong and he will save you. Of course, we should not settle for weak and timid faith but for some, such confidence takes a lifetime to cultivate. Let it grow and don’t be ashamed. Even if it takes a lifetime, you’ll have eternity afterwards to enjoy it.
Don’t let those with the loudest voices intimidate you. They may leap into Jesus’ arms, and you may warily approach, but the one you approach will always let you in, and he will never let you down. He is the only branch that will not break.
Lord, I hope to be a man of great faith, but I often doubt, and I’m often afraid. My prayer is that, “when I am afraid, I will trust in you” (Psalm 56:3) and I know I will be saved.
Speculations 