Several years ago, I heard the story of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon, he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now-helium-filled balloons. He took along a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.
Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet—smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon, causing long delays in flights from across the country. Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:
“Were you scared?” “Yes.”
“Would you do it again?” “No”
“Why did you do it?” “Because you can’t just sit there.”
He’s right. In life, we “can’t just sit there.” God gave us talents to serve our fellow man, glorify Him, and build up the church. He gives us days to use for good purposes and Sundays to worship Him. Fruitless branches will get “pruned” by the Vinedresser, and who wants that (Jn. 15:1-5)? Lukewarm souls get “spued” from His mouth (Rev. 3:15-17), and who needs that? As sheep under the care of the Good Shepherd, we can’t just say, “Let us alone…” (Mk, 1:24), and the demons did. We must say, “Here am I, send me” (Isa. 6:8), as Isaiah did, or “Speak Lord, thy servant heareth” (1 Sam. 3:9,10) as Samuel did.
