The big mistake is to avoid the call of God

Thought

Frank Perkins decided, for reasons best known to him, to set a new record for squatting at the top of a pole. He chose a flag pole in California for his record-breaking venture. He was determined to perch there for 400 days. However, life on the ground changed quite a bit while Frank squatted on high. First, the firm sponsoring him went broke. Then his girlfriend went off with another man. When Frank finally made his descent, he found his phone and electricity had been cut off. That wasn’t all; he was still two days short of the world record.

Sometimes people do strange things that both endanger their lives and the lives of others. Like the two bickering Frenchmen who decide to settle their differences with a duel but not in the accepted style of the 19th century. They chose to fight with blunderbusses from hot air balloons. Simultaneous shots brought down both balloons, killing both men.

These are mistakes which are extreme. Yet we are all prone to make blunders and to get things wrong sometimes. No-one can say that they are perfect - noone can say that they have never sinned. Even Peter who denied he knew Jesus was the person upon whom God chose to build his church. The wonderful thing about life with Jesus is that we can have the absolute assurance of the forgiveness of our sins as we come to him in faith and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes people say to me that they are beyond the love which God gives – that they are not good enough. Well, you can never be good enough! Jesus came to call sinners to repentance and that is precisely people like you and me.

The mistake is to ignore God’s call!

Canon Stephen Bradberry